Fun with Maps ISSUE 2024-219

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (December 10, 2024) – In this edition of Fun with Maps we are left to wonder: Is it inches or centimeters, pounds or kilograms?     

Metric

Leave it to the French.

There were many units of distance, weight and so on floating around in past years across the continents.  A foot referenced the size of Henry VIII’s foot.  Also, in England a stone reference human weight – one stone = 14 pounds.  In China, the standard unit of distance, chi, varied by dynasty, with the last dynasty, Qing, it stood at about 0.31 meter.  And it goes on.

Post French revolution there was a push to standardize the units of measurement.  So, they created a brand-new system, based on nature, that became the metric system, or SI which became official on December 10, 1799. 

For example, originally 1 meter was defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the north pole to the equator.  One kilogram was the weight of one cubic decimeter water at 4-degree C.  Later on, all these further refined with more easily measurable, and constant terms. For example, one meter now is defined very specifically in terms of the distance a photon travels in vacuum in a given amount of time.

Virtually all countries adopted the metric system, except the US.  Even England uses most of it, except for distance.  Buy 500 grams of ground meat at the store, and drive home at 35 mph.

Homann’s map of France is presented here from 1741.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.