Who Invented the Metric System (and Why It Isn’t As Perfect as You Think)

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Why is a meter a meter? The meter is the world’s ultimate measure, but how did it become “the” meter? What is this measurement based on? The story of this revolution in measurement traces its roots to the French Revolution. Scientists decided that an equal and united people should have equal and united measures. So they sent a pair of young astronomers out to measure the world, and invent the meter. Little did they know they’d find nothing but war, deception, and strife along the way. As a result of this ill-fated mission, the meter carries an error that still persists today. Still think the metric system is so perfect?
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LEARN MORE:
This episode would not have been possible without one incredible book: “The Measure of All Things” by Ken Alder.
There’s so much more to this story that we couldn’t fit in the video, and this book has it all. War, madness, deception, shame, spies, the dawn of the Enlightenment, the birth of modern economics, lots more beheadings… Highly recommended!
Amazon: amzn.to/2lNuEyD
Public library: www.worldcat.org/oclc/893130606
MORE:
Interesting chronology of the meter: www.dozenalsociety.org.uk/metr...
Calculating the length of a meridian arc: www.cantab.net/users/michael.b...
Williams, Jeffrey H. “Quantifying Measurement: The Tyranny of Numbers.” Morgan & Claypool Publishers, 2016
Murdin, Paul. “Full meridian of glory: perilous adventures in the competition to measure the Earth.” Springer Science & Business Media, 2008.
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It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D.
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Writer: Joe Hanson
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Produced by PBS Digital Studios
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27 фев 2017

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Комментарии : 2,4 тыс.

@besmart 7 лет назад

I'll pin this comment here so you don't have to make it again: I get it. Some of you spell it metre, rather than meter. And that makes about as much sense as the definition of the meter itself! PS - Leave it to us Americans, the last holdhouts of non-metric units, to protest the meter by choosing to spell it how we want 😂

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart I blame successful spelling reform.

@sirmeowthelibrarycat 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart This is not an intelligent response. You appear to take offence at being corrected in the use of terminology. The word you use refers to a mechanism for measuring power usage or quantity as with electricity or gas. Being American is no defence against errors of any kind. Correct use of language is essential to convey meaning. A little less hubris, a lot more humility please😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡🏛🇬🇧

@MrOktoberfest 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart Ye, fuk u 'Murica, get with the times and adopt de meter

@DoctorHeisenberg 7 лет назад

Just because in your country it's spelled metre doesn't mean it has to be spelled the same way in the US. Languages are not static objects and the same language in different countries will differ in certain words and spellings after a while. In America it was probably adopted it from German/Dutch/Swedish... immigrants where it's spelled meter (or Meter).

@nomb3179 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart I though the entire metric system was based on water

@TungstenWu 7 лет назад

HAHA "Les Measurables" AMAZING actually hilarious.

@geordirendum583 7 лет назад

Tungsten Wu its epic xD

@sk8rdman 7 лет назад

Wow. I totally missed that joke.

@JuanoGaleasS 6 лет назад

Yeah, I actually want that poster!

@djleonard14 3 года назад

i don't get it :/

@baijukuriakose8127 3 года назад

I dont get it

@Umirua 7 лет назад

Based on measurements according to earth's curvature? Suddenly the Flat Earth society hates the metric system

@HelloKittyFanMan. 5 лет назад

Oh shoot, you basically beat me to it!

@ConcreteLand 5 лет назад

The_Pyromancer 🤣🤣🤣

@jimday666 5 лет назад

I lolled

@PixiiGER 5 лет назад

That is why they come from the USA

@Wesley_H 5 лет назад

Hence why America is still not on the Metric system.

@gregedwards1087 5 лет назад

How far is that thing? A mile. What's a mile? 8 furlongs. What's a furlong? 10 chains. What's a chain? 22 yards. What's a yard? 3 feet. What are feet? 12 inches. Ohhhhh, why didn't you just say about 1600 metres in the first place?

@gregedwards1087 5 лет назад

oooooh, 1.609344 mtrs, I did say "about" 1600 mtrs. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

@gregedwards1087 5 лет назад

Just seeing if you were awake Tommi. 😊

@user-qn3ey1fr9r 5 лет назад

1 mile=1609344e15 picometre/picometer

@1977Timp 5 лет назад

A Roman mile was the distance an army fully equipped can walk; that’s why there are milestones..

@squalltheonly 5 лет назад

Meter is stupid. You cant use your body to measure it, but to measure feet you can use your feet.

@the_danksmith134 4 года назад

Rest of the world: 1 kilometer= 1000 meters 1 meter= 10 decimeters 1 decimeter= 10 centimeters 1 centimeter= 10 milimeters 1 milimeter= 1000 micrometers 1 micrometer= 1000 nanometers ..... US: 1 mile= 1760 yards 1 yard= 3 feet 1 foot= 12 inches 1 inch= 8 1/8 inch?? 1 ????= ????? Error 404! Sense not found!

@daffavirwandy7694 3 года назад

Yeet.

@masac2853 3 года назад

Arolema Prarath was

@louf7178 3 года назад

So you talked about conversion within, but it misses the usefulness of the measure. In many cases IP is much more intuitive in relation to humans.

@Nasox 3 года назад

@@louf7178 but it is extremely harmful for a lot of things also

@samuels.4834 3 года назад

1 inch is actully 3 grains

@kindredferguson5588 7 лет назад

It's easy, A meter is 118.11 kernels of barley laid end to end.

@23Khameo 6 лет назад

KINDRED FERGUSON and THAT is how you turn an incomprehensible number into something that makes sense.

@james-ch 6 лет назад

KINDRED FERGUSON metre not meter

@NoThrottle 5 лет назад

James CH miituh not metre

@jakeg3126 5 лет назад

People might barley envy

@FACup-eu2dt 5 лет назад

Do you mean that that, is the official height of a Parking Meter? (If someone actually spent time measuring 0.11 of a barley kernal, they have far too much time on their hands, and should get out more.)

@JohnSmith-tm5xx 7 лет назад

Europeans: "Let's invent a measurement system that's logical and makes perfect sense!" Imperials: "We shall do the exact opposite!"

@mrfuriouser 6 лет назад

John Smith Wrong. They wanted measurements capable of being figured by regular people without using tools.

@AtomicReverend 6 лет назад

It's cause you people's cans use your toes to counts all themselves numbers... Unlike the imperial system that requires you to have a basic understanding of fractional math. Nah seriously, who cares? The Imperial system has been around a small bit longer then the metro system but realistically they two systems grew up together in Europe and the states. The big issue is cost of conversion here in the USA,. We have 320,000,000+ people that have used the USA imperial system and have been using it for 230ish years as a nation while most of the world was still using thier own form of measurement. We copied the most powerful nation in the world at that time which was the UK. Empire... The UK eventually lost power and were next door neighbors to the metric system so they adopted the metric system. Meanwhile back in the States we become one of the most developed nations in human history with literally millions of miles of roads and billions of nuts and bolts (which were standarized in thread pitch before metric hardware was I believe) so here we are about 100 years later and here in the states all of our infrastructure is bas d on SAE or aka imperial system... It's the same damn thing... 28 grams in an once, or 3.78 liters in s gallon. 100km is 62 miles an hour... Realistically it takes about 3 days driving to get used to either system. Although I have to admit kilometers screw up my internal clock when I am gaging distance. Pardon any typos except my first sentence where I was poking fun of a measurement system that promotes using your fingers and toes.

@AtomicReverend 6 лет назад

Serious question, when I was growing up in the 1980s and teachers were pushing metric on us as part of the Carter administration's plan for metricfication of the USA why did we learn about decimeters and nobody actually uses it in measurement as an example

@canyadigit6274 5 лет назад

America doesn’t use the imperial system, kiddo.

@AtomicReverend 5 лет назад

Fermion Physics you do realize that the "UNITED STATES. CUSTOMARY UNIT" is sometimes referred to as the imperial system" or the "US imperial system" You also know that the British changed thier system in 1824 where the USA did not keeping the older Imperial system hence the name Imperial system. I am sorry if you couldn't figure out which system I was referring to considering I clearly stated I was in the USA. Oh and since we are on the subject the British system is sometimes referred to as British Imperial system. It's the damnedest thing kiddo.

@spiguy420 5 лет назад

Who would win? A measurement based on earth and light speed... Or Some body parts.

@leoriso 5 лет назад

It is not based on light speed..

@e.f.g.v.4496 4 года назад

Both

@physicswithabuhuraira8676 3 года назад

Based on earth and speed of light. because we have to explore the universe in physics not the human body

@jichusTea 3 года назад

Meh

@totalynotcatherine 3 года назад

Feetz.

@Brouksgaming 6 лет назад

Yea people invented all measurements but something just feels good when 1 L = 1 Kg = 1 dm3 when it comes to water at 5 degrees

@ManDudeYeah 5 лет назад

5 degrees what? C or F?

@dustinmajo9897 5 лет назад

Actually 4°C... Water has it's lowest density at 4 degree Celsius.

@SeedlingNL 5 лет назад

@ManDudeYeah : °F is just another imperial unit that is weirdly based on the metric system. The right question should be, °C or °K. (Kelvin is the actual metric unit of temperature, °C is merely offset so that 0 °C = 273.15 °K.

@drunksanta1427 5 лет назад

there is no "degrees" kelvin, its just 200 Kelvin or 200 K. Why is this? Unsure, but its true

@coolguyslmda2809 5 лет назад

Water has the highest density at 4 Celsius,that's why there is water under ice in frozen lakes.

@weedandwine 7 лет назад

I wish we used metric system here in USA. I work in construction and it seems like such an easier system if everyone got used to it.

@cristianverdugogalaz8725 7 лет назад

it'll take a couple of years for peaple to change to it, but is a good investment in the long run

@onecommunistboi 6 лет назад

The same thing is true for base 10 and base 12. Everyone uses base 10 but in daily life base 12 would be much easier to use than base 10. For example 1/3 would be 0.4 rather than 0.3333333333333 up to infinity. You get my point.

@Dracadin 6 лет назад

And if you want to convert to smaller parts its easier to divide by 10 (just move point or comma or whatever you use) then by 12. You get my point :)

@onecommunistboi 6 лет назад

Dracadin If we were using base 12 then dividing by 12 would be the same as dividing by 10 (in base 10). In fact 12 written in base 12 is just 10.

@Dracadin 6 лет назад

Ok I didnt know that thanks for clearing that out.

@ltericdavis2237 7 лет назад

Totally expecting comments to be filled with arguments about why America doesn't use metric. Instead we got arguments about spelling. Welcome to the internet.

@PurpleObscuration 5 лет назад

A message to my American friends, if you can make change for 10 dollars with pennies, dimes and dollars you already know the metric system. Here's the breakdown; one meter has 1000 units, 10 dollars has 1000 units (pennies) 1000 millimeters in 1 meter - pennies 100 centimeters in 1 meter - dimes 10 decimeters in 1 meter - dollars [EDIT] if we got rid of nickels and quarters, we would be using the metric system/ 10 base with our monetary system.

@gyozakeynsianism 5 лет назад

Buck ey That means you know the decimal system, not the metric system. Or, how to multiply or divide things by 10.

@gabrieleporru4443 4 года назад

Well, I mean, at least that's surprising, wich is not bad by itseld. Am I wrong?

@genelomas332 3 года назад

@@gyozakeynsianism the metric system IS base -10 dude.. It's simple, logical and arguably more accurate than imperial. Especially at the very small.

@briaiguess8834 3 года назад

@@PurpleObscuration *CONFUSION*

@Milesco Год назад

Truth is, it doesn't matter one iota how the meter (or metre!) was established. ANY convenient length will do. All that matters is that it can be easily and very accurately re-creatable in the lab. Which it now is. 😊

@hamidrana085 5 месяцев назад

you missed the "All that meters" pun. i hate you.

@dr.jamesolack8504 15 часов назад

It’s STILL an invention, any way you cut it. THIS can NOT be denied. [Nothing Follows]

@Milesco 13 часов назад

@@dr.jamesolack8504 Yes, of course it is. So...???

@ThefreakyOo 5 лет назад

0:49 That's not what Europe looked like in 1789 😅

@GandWizard 4 года назад

Well spotted! A modern map was used - the Dutch already made a polder in Flevoland, which happened in the 1950s and 60s: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevoland

@TheReaper569 7 лет назад

the meter isnt really "wrong" today with speed of light measure, a meter has no objectvity, we made it , and we matched it to something in nature.

@EllieMaes-Grandad 2 года назад

A 'meter' is a device for measuring; a 'metre' is a unit of measurement.

@TheReaper569 2 года назад

@@EllieMaes-Grandad ok go away now

@Persun_McPersonson Год назад

@@EllieMaes-Grandad It depends on what dialect of English you use. US English does not typically distinguish the two in spelling (though you can if you want to), and neither does the entirety of French, the language of the country that the metric system came from. You're nothing but an overly-pedantic dickhead.

@EllieMaes-Grandad Год назад

@@Persun_McPersonson A fancy (and insulting) way to tell us you will endorse inaccuracy, perhaps because you don't know the correct concepts?

@bobjeaniejoey Год назад

Matched in nature? Most people believe that because that is what they are told to believe, like good little sheeple. The meter was matched to 1/299,792,458 of the distance that light travels in one second. All that they did there was to find which fraction of light speed distance traveled to fit their original meter measurement and pronounced it to be the meter. They could almost as easily have called the meter some fraction of the distance that a Silent But Deadly fart travels from hole to nose in one second. That speed seems to universally be the same as that of light.

@tarsofelix4414 7 лет назад

Why do people care so much about the spelling of meter/metre? Oh, yeah... This is the internet, I almost forgot.

@mortyjames5897 7 лет назад

One spelling is barbaric, and one spelling is the objectively correct way of spelling it.

@william41017 7 лет назад

Flowey The Flower he must have a boring and empty life, so that's his way of feeling well about himself

@danbott81 7 лет назад

Tarso Felix Apparently people were getting their heads cut off over what it actually was long before anyone argued about the spelling. The internet just makes it easier to argue over long distances, the argument has always been there lol

@mortyjames5897 7 лет назад

+Flowey The Flower +william41017 It's called banter, guys, not everyone understands it but that's ok.

@greyarea6688 7 лет назад

Not being able to spell correctly is stupid, stupid.

@anaselfatihi1819 7 лет назад

2:18 "...First they had to agree on the lenght of a second" *Jefferson slaps head*

@michaelleyland9836 5 лет назад

is that lenght or length....just saying like.

@NinjaPedroX 5 лет назад

But who decided how long a second is? *VSauce music plays*

@robertwarner5963 3 года назад

WE have 60 seconds in a minute because that matches the pulse of a healthy, adult male. For example, my resting pulse is 56 beats per minute, but I am willing to go along with the masses. 60 is also to divide by mental math into multiples of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 20 and 30. Nautical miles are 6040 which can be abbreviated to do mental calculations of time and distance. A foot used to be the length of the king's foot. A yard was the distance between the king's nose and his out-stretched fingertip.

@melissanicole1346 5 лет назад

Dang! For them trying to calculate it that long ago and get it almost right is amazing and impressive! 😱

@zigisamblak Год назад

Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the world to 99.5% accuracy in 250BC, so he was 2000 years ahead of them and only slightly less accurate.

@pawdaypay 7 лет назад

1 Meter is 100 Centimeter

@foalspreshow 7 лет назад

fork spoon wow are you a scientist

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

fork spoon A meter is 1/1000th a kilometer.

@irekin2 7 лет назад

The 7th meter

@the7th494 7 лет назад

It's spelt metre!

@_KnZed_ 7 лет назад

1 centimeter is 10 millimeter 1 millimeter is 1000 micrometer 1 micrometer is 1000 nano-meter 1 nano-meter is 1000 pico-meter

@papab34r 5 лет назад

The metric system when it comes to working with physics is a god send since its always 10/100/1000 etc. Unlike imperial measurements who makes the eyes bleed. Its easy converting a meter into a kilometer or 100 kilometers but doing so with yards and miles, not so much. Going from miles, to yards to inches even less fun of a task.

@dr.jamesolack8504 15 часов назад

What does ‘fun’ have to do with it???

@Milesco 6 часов назад

Of course for scientific purposes, metric is the only way to go. But for ordinary everyday practical measurements, it doesn't really matter which system one uses, because you're not doing any complex calculations with it. In that case, you're better off using a system that you and all of your countrymen are familiar with. It should also be noted that Americans never have to convert miles to yards or feet. Those are different units, used for different purposes. We never use yards or feet when measuring distances in miles. And we never use feet or inches to measure long distances. And we never use yards at all! 😁

@supercommie 5 лет назад

A decimal day would make physics calculations a hell of a lot easier.

@bxdanny 3 года назад

But daily life harder. The French tried it, and it didn't work. Physicists can do the needed unit conversions a lot more easily than average people can.

@rebeccaanderson5626 3 года назад

@@bxdanny hey the metric system will make your life much easier . No need to convert just yeet that trash I mean imperial system in the dustbin where it belongs

@Wanted797 3 года назад

@@bxdanny nearly all Australians disagree. We mostly talk in metric terms for everything (exceptions would be a persons height or babies weight)

@bxdanny 3 года назад

@@Wanted797 They don't use metric time ("a decimal day") in Australia or anywhere else. For multiples of years and for fractions of seconds, yes. But days remain divided into hours, minutes and seconds, and grouped into weeks or months.

@aeaeeaoiauea 2 года назад

But that's because you humans _count_ in decimal. You could've at least chose what you call duodecimal, and you would've made daily _and_ not daily calculations easier.

@Joridiy 2 года назад

Curious side-note: Decimal Time wasn't a failure, it was killed because of several reasons that hadn't anything to see with the length of a second (because it wasn't defined yet), minutes or hours; but the fact that clocks were an awfully expensive luxury that almost nobody could afford (specially after the war and the revolution), watchmakers refused to decimalise the clocks because that would mean to trash their entire stocks and they would have to work from zero in an unknown field for them (create new engines, new mechanisms, & so on), the fathers of Decimal Time were dead in the fisrt 10 years of decimal time so there was no one to defend it, religious authorities refused to decimalise because it was linked to the anti-clerical revolution and there was also the counter-revolution and the fact that 24h dials were extremely rare because of the hardness of its making (that's why almost every old building has always either a dial of 12 or 6 hours and only the most expensive, rich buildings had an astronomical 24h dial; that made people have to adapt to the dial of 12 hours and even if nowadays it's cheap to buy 24h analogue clocks, they're rare because we used to the 12h dial because of the very scarceness of a 24h clock). And not to forget a big reason too: printing new measurements or creating the big K wasn't difficult compared to create an enterily new machine to tell time, let alone using a dial of 24h which was hard to make and unusual; besides the lack of official support also killed decimal time. Official support is needed to encourage people to use a system, otherwise they won't even try it because people don't like to change customs and traditions. Decimal Time could have been our modern day to measure time if it wasn't for all these reasons that doomed it; at least there's still a decimalist community in internet that pleads for the decimalisation of our crazy time measurements and simplifying it. lnk.bio/r0AQ

@zigisamblak Год назад

Having a base-12 system for time (and angles) is better anyway since 12 is the most dividable number. If we used base-12 for numbers like the babylonians did life would be better.

@Joridiy Год назад

@@zigisamblak I totally agree with you 144% (100 dozenal), but since all our measure systems are in decimal, it'd be easier to decimalize time instead of docenalize everything else (even though it'd be better)

@zinjgreen3398 7 лет назад

When you sneak out in the window late at night just to "Meter".

@ayushmanthapa_onion 7 лет назад

Zoreign Dear haha nise

@takshashila2995 5 лет назад

Finally got the Joke after a Year.Saved from whoosh. #1453#Prayforcontantinopole

@Ethan5I5 4 года назад

Culpable Injustice I don’t get it

@Ziorac 7 лет назад

@ that last bit The reason we say y'all should switch to the metric system isn't because the meter is based on some magical universal law. It's because the metric system makes sense in terms of conversions. 1 meter is 0.001 kilometers is 100 centimeters is 1000 millimeters. Imperial is... A whole mess of 1 mile is 5280 feet, while a foot is 12 inches and heaven forbid you can go smaller than an inch, cause why would you, right?

@nadzianyx 7 лет назад

In carpentry, we go smaller than an inch all the time. There's 1/2", 1/4", 1/8", 1/16", 1/32", 1/64", ... _So_ much better than the metric system. jk

@GreatGazukes 7 лет назад

Ah yes, when your 3/4'' drill bit is just a shade too large, the next one to try is.....hmmmm 4 into 64 goes 16, times 3 is 48, minus 1 is 47/64....or maybe try a 23/32 or 11/16???

@Hommededarwin 7 лет назад

Yeah, no. It is nice because we are use to it, but it doesnt make much sense... You could do the same with meters (0,010cm, etc...) and don't have five million weird fraction

@Nosirt 6 лет назад

"3/4'' drill bit is just a shade too large" then the drilling you need is probably wrong because companies know they need to make it in terms of what is good or possible. I have never seen a 99 cm drill or 98 or 27 or what ever arbatury number. Its always 1cm ot 10 cm or 25 or 50 as its is most useful. Are suggesting there are 100 drills for all cm from 1-100?

@canyadigit6274 5 лет назад

Ziorac so you’re saying that the math for customary is too hard for ya? 1 yard=3 feet isn’t calculus, kid. If you are having problems multiplying by 3, then you need to go back to 1st grade.

@LongshotRecordsTV 5 лет назад

When he said the triangles were connected it would have also been funny if he had Link from Legend of Zelda hold up the Triforce! Hahahahaha!

@Roberto-REME 3 года назад

Excellent program (video) and expertly narrated. Well done!

@kakam458 7 лет назад

"This is a meter" Americans "wut iz metur?"

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

Tuneless Steak A meter is the thing that measures how much electrulicity you use, duh.

@MustObeyTheRules 7 лет назад

Tuneless Steak " come here kid, let me tell you about a magical thing called yards"

@sp00kyskellybum67 7 лет назад

noe a miter iz a ting fer meshurenk howe fazt i cen wonk

@Szobiz 7 лет назад

joe Costello for the nonsense it is it can only be magical and live on american's head

@bootblacking 7 лет назад

Hi, I'm an American, and I'm well aware of what a meter is. Yes, the metric system is a better, more intuitive, system of measurements. No, I wasn't raised using it and my work is not in science or engineering so no, I don't use it except when referring to sodas, ammunition, or drugs. Really, we only seem to like metric when it makes us fat, armed, or high.

@kennymartin5976 7 лет назад

Yeah, like all units of measurement, how big the metre is , is completely arbitrary; however: Base ten. Face it you imperialists, base ten makes metric the better system by far. Once you know that you can convert between units simply by moving the decimal left or right, you notice that it's just more user friendly all around.

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

Kenny Martin Base 10 sucks. We really oughta be using a power of 2 as a base or base 12. >:D

@kennymartin5976 7 лет назад

Ganaram Inukshuk 12? Bah! 12 is needlessly complicated! A pittice to you and your "12"!!

@danilooliveira6580 7 лет назад

base 12 is great, you can divide by 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 and be left with a integer. though even as base 12 the imperial system fails. its so complicated and with really weird conversions that it doesn't make sense

@kennymartin5976 7 лет назад

***** I hear ya.

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

How about a nice compromise between base 10 and base 12? Why not base 11?

@Darklink88600 7 лет назад

@Okay To Be Smart As a french I like the way you introduce things! It was not the first one video I watch from your channel, you're amazing! Thanks!

@alexlandherr 4 года назад

Metrology and all closely related topics (geodesy, navigation systems, geodetic datums etc.) are some of my favorite areas of science!

@omgimgfut 7 лет назад

that's pretty impressive they were able to calculate the distance from the poles to the equator that accurately

@drakesmith471 Год назад

They probably did something akin to what Eratosthenes did. Measured the earth’s curvature from some given latitude compared to another and measure and figured the proportion of this. They decided “a million pieces it shall be. Now how to get that accurately, that’s a bit more difficult to say.

@zigisamblak Год назад

@@drakesmith471 No Eratosthenes did it with shadows, the French did it by measuring angles. He was 2000 years ahead of them and 99.5% accurate.

@drakesmith471 Год назад

@@zigisamblak oof. I think I hadn’t watched the full vid yet when I put that comment there. Thanks for correcting me though. The ingenuity of one guy and his trusty stick in the sand.

@zigisamblak Год назад

@@drakesmith471 No worries. :D

@drakesmith471 Год назад

@@zigisamblak :D

@Casskario 5 лет назад

Still better than this strange mile, yard and inches thing ^^

@marekstanek112 5 лет назад

The narrative is balls-crushingly hilarious, and I love this way of explaining things. Nucler thumbs UP!

@rickdees251 4 года назад

Wonderful video. Well done. You explained what far to many people were never educated (informed) about. Thank you.

@Orinoco2012 3 года назад

Your videos are awesome, I appreciate them very much. The meter seems in fact, to be an arbitrary length. Aren't they all though? are the yard, foot, inch or mile any less arbitrary references of length? one practical difference is that there is a logical and consistent ratio between a nanometer, a millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer, and in many instances, simplicity is the ultimate design. Those messy units to measure length have not deterred the US from achieving so many advances in science, technology and inventions.

@GH-oi2jf 3 года назад

Yes, any base unit os length is arbitrary. There are countless ways one could choose the initial unit.

@Ryvaken Год назад

Actually the standard system is not arbitrary. Almost every unit is derived from something people actually did in their day to day life. If you wanted "about a pound of flour" you get a double handful of flour and put it in a sack. The foot is fairly obvious, the yard is about a single step, the mile is around a thousand full paces...the units are by design ideas that the human brain can grasp quickly. The metric system, however, makes no attempt to be accessible. It is an invention of pseudoscientific navel-gazing to try and create units that were not arbitrary. It failed at that task, as described in the video. More importantly, the strict powers of ten forces them to frequently use units that are too big or too small for casual use. A few centuries before metric was a thing the British were standardizing the system and smoothing out conversions to be whole numbers, but the individual units were all chosen on the basis of being useful on their own. It is a "simplicity of use" rather than "simplicity of conversion."

@richardyu8723 7 лет назад

i wish it was exactly 1/300,000,000th of the distance light travels in a second.

@BambaZillah 6 лет назад

Story telling is amazing on this channel!

@Findalfen 3 года назад

"Les measùrable" haha dad joke approved, from a Frenchie.

@besmart 7 лет назад

My favorite metric unit? Instagram

@nyunno 7 лет назад

lul

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart Ehh, I'm more a fan of the anagram.

@thermic4569 7 лет назад

@genghiskhan6688 7 лет назад

dear america, plz, adopt the metric system regards, everyone EVERY ONE

@aviralrastogi 7 лет назад

It's Okay To Be Smart Hey, could you make another video like this one in which you describe where other units came from and how they are related like gram? Interestingly I was thinking about metre's definition as speed of light just last week.

@Silver.ImpAct 6 лет назад

Thanks a ton, exactly the kind of channel i was searching for years. Thank you !

@fanbuoy9234 5 лет назад

A metric ton or the other one?

@kaylam7751 3 года назад

3:06 learned about this in my precalculus class this semester👏🏼 solving an oblique triangle using the Law of Sines

@cooldude56g 7 лет назад

I'm american, and not even I know why we're still on the imperial system.

@cristianverdugogalaz8725 7 лет назад

cos it basicly means that they would need to add/change sings on streets, start teaching it in schools, and stuff like that, which would take a couple of years and some money (most likely less than Nasa's buget and thats really a low one) so yeah its useful in the long run, but as always humans are bad at looking on the advantages of something more than 5 months into the future most of the time

@NoThrottle 5 лет назад

I use ft and inches for animal height meters for anything taller than an average elephant. CM for anything smaller than an average thumb inches for anything larger than an average thumb Kilograms for weight

@3seven5seven1nine9 5 лет назад

The same reason there are people in Ireland who still speak Irish, and people in Hong Kong who speak Cantonese. Everyone's quick to accept cultural difference unless they're American

@whiplash7400 5 лет назад

@@3seven5seven1nine9 Trust me it's a pain in the ass that we Irish have Irish as a core subject in school, you have to learn it! Nobody actually uses it though, apart from some areas that speak Irish, but even there, the people still know English, and not many Irish people are actually fluent in Irish, because they only cared about the grade in school, the minute they graduated, they never spoke a word of it again.

@fhuber7507 5 лет назад

Because Carter tried to force us to convert, but Carter damn near caused a second Great Depression.

@AAA-pf5bh 6 лет назад

At the end "it was revolutionary" than the French flag popped up I was laughing so hard 😂😂

@Roberto-REME 5 лет назад

Great video and well produced. thank you,

@sandhukamaldeep 7 лет назад

Oh boy...ur videos is so intriguing.. loved it !

@gilokdc 7 лет назад

yeahh... like everything else huamns come up with its just concepts ,lets just agree on the meter and adopt everywhere ..yes i'm looking at you usa!

@joshsatterwhite1571 7 лет назад

Gille Louback American here. I wish we would. I really do.

@thegrimwar995 7 лет назад

Actually, Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers were fans of the metric system, but they gave up on it because, as I quoted from an answer on Quora... "Thomas Jefferson was a fan of the metric system and wanted the US to adopt it. Until he found out that the French boffins who were defining the system gave up on the idea of defining the second as the period of a pendulum of a given length. Jefferson really didn’t like the idea of depending on reference units that only existed in Paris - he wanted a pure system that could be derived entirely from natural constants, anywhere in the world. When he saw that the French were unable to do that, he lost enthusiasm for it. (I’m sure local politics had a lot to do with it too, but this is what dampened Jefferson’s advocacy efforts.) BTW, the reason why the second couldn’t be defined with a pendulum length (at the time; it’s actually defined by natural constants - different ones - today) is because the Earth’s gravity varies too much from place to place. I’m not sure if Jefferson knew that was the reason."

@georgebelmonte8522 7 лет назад

Gille Louback American here. No way. I refuse to measure my dick in centimeters.

@thegrimwar995 7 лет назад

You are not funny...

@z0ng0 7 лет назад

oh... in millimeters, then ?

@robertofontiglia4148 5 лет назад

"Les Mesurables" -- WOW ! That's world class wordplay right there.

@divyasharma4067 7 лет назад

your explanation technique is brilliant

@regulareric8759 5 лет назад

this question has been on my mind for so long, never bothered to look for an answer. it crossed my mind today to look it up but seems that youtube can read my thoughts and just put this video in my home tab.

@larryscott3982 7 лет назад

He could've mentioned the meridian surveys in Ecuador and Scandinavia that were concurrent and part of the attempt of the meter's definition. It's a great piece of academic achievement

@Jelisew 7 лет назад

Good summary!!! thank you :-) I can recommend the book "The measure of all things" by Ken Alder... it tells the entire story of how this oddysey drove people to madness. One of my favorite books of all time :-)

@PaiviProject 5 лет назад

Woah now that was so very interesting !! Thank you. I'm from Finland where the metric is in use 👍

@fahadshabbir806 5 лет назад

The ad was in the end after the whole video. You sir, have my thumbs up.

@timgo5829 4 года назад

1:31 is when all Red dead Redemption 2 players reacted.

@machtwo_ 7 лет назад

Great, now this is gonna bug me for the rest of my life ._.

@william41017 7 лет назад

Teddy Ber what?

@NazmusLabs 7 лет назад

Teddy Ber but it's just a couple mm off

@ObjectsInMotion 7 лет назад

Teddy Ber Join the club.

@katlea9226 5 лет назад

This is actually really interesting. I was thinking about this the other day

@WJack97224 5 лет назад

I'm all for metric units but the reality is that America was built with the inch/pound system and so all the stuff built or constructed, buildings, cars, truck, roads, bridges, houses, ships, planes, railroads and such that last years must be serviced and that means maintaining a dual system and it means the maintenance workers and the renovation workers and engineers and designers and supervisors and managers must be fluent in Avoirdupois and Metric systems and not get confused. Remember how the Mars probe crashed because the engineering was done by a couple of groups that used different measurement systems.

@irun_mon 7 лет назад

"this is the official meter. after centuries of struggle we finally have one" the world: yey!! American: nah fam, we gud.

@romanis9596 7 лет назад

Irun Mon Huh, I've seen you on Cynicalex's videos. Sup

@irun_mon 7 лет назад

Bryce P-Stevenson sup dude, am glad to see another person who have the same interest in MFF and science. lol

@frankmartin8471 3 года назад

The meter is still an arbitrary distance, just like the yard.

@livelaurent 3 года назад

@Frank Martin True, but I don't think it matters. At the beg. you need to have a set of distance, does not matter what is the baseline. but between having a baseline based on physics and something intangible that can be actually measured with the speed of light and some random "foot/yard/teeth/cup" stuff, I'll with the first one. On top of that, everything is based on the decimal system while the other system is out of Frankenstein movie (1 miles = 1760 y, 1y = 3f, 1f = 12 inches and so on)...

@GH-oi2jf 2 года назад

In the United States, we use the same standard for le mètre as everybody else.

@deinonychus1948 7 лет назад

"The real story is full of discovery, deception and a lot of people getting their heads cut off" -Joe Hanson, Feb 28, 2017

@kevinklei3005 5 лет назад

As a retired Toolmaker my apprentice years in Australia in 14th February 1966 went decimal [Metric ] best thing ever. The old 1 inch was divided into Halves ; quarters ; eights; sixteenths ; thirty seconds ; sixty firths and then went into one thousands of one inch which is basically metric again . Metric was just a division of ten so easy even you Americans can do it. And while you are at it change your date system to Day : Month ; Year . And learn how to spell COLOUR .

@bicyclist2 5 лет назад

I love it! Very cool! Thumbs up! Thank you.

@billalzeinu7157 7 лет назад

Can birds be afraid of heights?

@EdwinLuciano 7 лет назад

I can imagine an ostrich or a penguin who wouldn't like to be on top of the Empire State building. What is known is that some species of flying birds don't like to fly over water for long periods of time. Call me on it, and I'll tell you where I read that.

@dentoncrimescene 7 лет назад

ZeCasuals. Can humans be afraid of the ground?

@william41017 7 лет назад

dentoncrimescene some babies can get a little scared of walking for the first time, the same happens to birds when learning to fly. So kinda...

@SoundDrout 7 лет назад

LagiNaLangAko23 neither do birds...

@philiphawron 6 лет назад

ZeCasuals, no they cannot evolutionarily it's beacuse well what good would that do? Like what if humans were afraid of walking? what good would that do?

@kurei0. 7 лет назад

the video editing is really funny

@susangonnermann4278 3 года назад

Lovely! Please make an episode living a year in Metric France!

@katherinegrice4415 Год назад

You should do a video on how the clock works and compare the types starting from the very first clock all the way to the satellite clock.

@MRrealmadridRaul 7 лет назад

Damn, an experimental error of .02% is pretty damn accurate. Most of my experiments have an error of +-5.0%

@boneboi_amir5235 3 года назад

This channel makes simple questions deep...

@JadeMythriil 5 лет назад

I love the editing and script on this video XD. (I know its a year old video but just adds to the praise.)

@Rauschgenerator 4 года назад

Fun fact: they found poles of bronze in about 4000 year old villages in what today is Germany. These poles were bundled, always ten (!) poles together and these bundles' weight was throughout - quite precisely - 1 kilogram each.

@SayanMitraepicstuff 7 лет назад

0:12 yes, it is in the international bureau of weights and measures, they have kept a meter in a locked room.

@Dominus_Potatus 7 лет назад

Sayan Mitra the twist: a meter is locked in a meter by meter by meter cube in a meter below earth which are all measured for one perfect meter length

@nettles89 7 лет назад

Sorta kinda. Yes, there are (and have long been) physical standards for this measurement, but it's now defined mathematically, and between the mathematical definition and the physical standard, the mathematical definition is more authoritative.

@vampyricon7026 6 лет назад

That's the kilogram

@OtKH00 5 лет назад

My life's mission is to find the hiding place of the Meter and replace it with an imperial based ruler

@Ltellin669957 5 лет назад

not anymore, since 2012 the metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299 792 458 second. source: www.bipm.org/en/CGPM/db/17/1/

@DragonBallStrike 5 лет назад

I had actually always wondered this. Not the meter specifically, but I had always wondered who created the measurements.

@mr.patriot9626 6 лет назад

Mind blown... Impressive research.

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

Why is a mile a mile? Turns out that a mile is really close to 12 to the third power yards, so we were insanely close to having standardised base 12 measurements.

@rovicalwencandava275 7 лет назад

Ganaram Inukshuk 😢

@BelialsRevenge 7 лет назад

"really close" meh, good enough

@BelialsRevenge 7 лет назад

Since 99% of humanity uses a decimal system id argue that its only logical and convenient to also make our units base 10.

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

I wouldn't say 99% of humanity; there's plenty of parts of the world that use bases that aren't even 10: base 8, 12, 20, 27... Saying that nearly all of humanity agreed on ten is kinda... barbaric, for lack of a better word.

@BelialsRevenge 7 лет назад

i gotta admit it was a kinda abrabric phrasing. I was thinking of the scientific community in particular when making that statement, which would still be a exaggeration.

@jullyxiao814 4 года назад

"Now lets see what the problem of the universe is." *lifts mast* *sees humans*

@pablogh1204 5 лет назад

I like the title of the channel. I'm totally agree with that

@FredericGaillot 5 лет назад

Between 1796 and 1797, 16 meters were graved in stone and placed around Paris. If you visit Paris, you will be only able to see 2 of these meter-stones, and only one is in its original location, on 36 rue de Vaugirard, next to the Luxembourg Garden, in front of the Senat. The other one is in Place Vendôme .. where interestingly enough, the most expensive jewels in Paris are measured not in grams or centimeters, but in carats for precious stones and onces for gold ! Conclusion .. metre (or mètre in France) is not yet fully in use, even to the closest point where it was invented !!! thanks for the video, it's just great and make science fun and easy to understand.

@janhvigoje3572 7 лет назад

Can you make a video on goosebumps????

@ricnyc2759 5 лет назад

The Metric System is superior: from the smallest things like pills (milligrams) to the heaviest stuff (tons = 1 ton is 1000 kilos).

@teachermichaelmaalim6103 5 лет назад

Nice. In UK English, metre is length while meter is a machine that measures (voltmeter, wattmeter, speedometer). In US English, both are meter.

@CarloPiana 19 часов назад

A meter is a convention. As long as it's based on a replicable, invariant physical phenomenon, who cares if the scientists made an error. The huge advancement was that the fundamental measure was defined and every other measure is based on it. It's an interesting historic factoid that teaches us something on how sciences proceeds through amending inevitable errors.

@alexshi1679 6 лет назад

Me before the video: 1meter is 1/10000000 the distance between the North Pole and the equator passing though Paris Me after the video: 1meter is 1/10000000 the distance between the North Pole and the equator passing though Paris

@carollollol 6 лет назад

Yeah! I agree! If they did it by hand and some one fucked up and they got still that close to the real number. Im impressed. :)

@francoistrempe 7 лет назад

"Les Mesurables" ;-) brilliant!

@herobrain8889 5 лет назад

Avery Interresting question, very good

@mdtalhaansari1096 5 лет назад

I was under the impression that this was about measuring devices. that would be a cool video - what are the principles common to all meters (measuring devices)?

@thermic4569 7 лет назад

I'm watching this in science class my teacher doesn't know ha ha ha o_0

@ganaraminukshuk0 7 лет назад

MikeTBG At least you're learning something, amirite?

@fartingduck5316 5 лет назад

"Who invented the meter?" Pretty sure it was a guy named Miles.

@YourAdSenseDepot 5 лет назад

Good stuff..thanks..

@michaelneal6589 3 года назад

I really enjoyed that thank you.

@carlosmuller3565 5 лет назад

4:25 When she takes her make up off

@dentoncrimescene 7 лет назад

I guess it's more important that it is divided into easy decimal chunks instead of arbitrary divisions. The actual length is less important. 14 ounces, 16 pounds or whatever cannot be argued for.

@Liggliluff 2 года назад

(1:35) Yet, still today, when you buy a drink at a place, too often in my experience, the volume is still not specified.

@jonathanflores771 6 лет назад

i thought i learned everything in physics class about the meter. didnt know it was to match old hunk of metal nice video

@andrewchou3277 7 лет назад

And this triagonal sign

@vielfrancisco6933 7 лет назад

AC 計算機 AC Calculator NO MEMES ALLOWED1!!!!!11

@want-diversecontent3887 6 лет назад

Viel Francisco are unobvious memes allowed?

@stecky87 7 лет назад

I laughed a little too hard when Ryan Gosling slapped Channing Tatum . . .

@JerryS2485 5 лет назад

Les Miserables was written about the June Rebellion of 1832, not the french revolution. Victor Hugo was a young man during the Paris Uprisings and watched as the rebellion failed and the people were crushed. The story is about the futility of revolution. The Beatles later wrote a song about the futility of revolution called Revolution #1, and The Who wrote a song about it called Won't Get Fooled Again.

@carrierueden756 7 лет назад

Please do a video on the yard (the very appreciative second grade teacher)❤️

@Stripedbottom 23 дня назад

Oh, nobody's saying that it's perfect. We're just saying it's miles better than imperial.

@ADEehrh 5 лет назад

The metric system is sooooo awesome It is sooo easy, accurate, and sensible if those opposed would just realize it's better they would drop the childish crap.. "it's not amarican!" Thank you France for the system!!! Ps youtube has tutorials I don't care how it happened; I'm just glad I got to [meet her]!

@emberrose82 2 года назад

This is awesome, I got to search and see what and why the yard measurements are used in America as this does make sense

@der.Schtefan 2 дня назад

Fun fact: they knew that they were off by a factor, and could have corrected it, but by that time people already were doubting them and they did want to appear infallible. The circumference of the earth is thus not the easy for school children to remember 40,000 but 40,075. Had they corrected the data when they found out, they would have been only off by 5-7 km. But hey, even 75 km means a error of only 0.18%, amazing for that time period.

@chessboy00 2 года назад

I thought they used 10 times the length of 1 side of a cube of water at 1 atmosphere which would have a mass of exactly 1 kilogram and the volume of 1 liter. How awesome it would be to have the basic units of length, mass and volume all derived from a single chunk of something as universal as good old H2O.