Why isn’t the metric system used in the United States? Why is it that a country known for its openness to the future, its scientific innovations, and its practicality has refused to adopt the most practical, up-to-date, and widely used system of measurement? In Yardstick Nation, Hector Vera answers these questions by analyzing the political, economic, and international conditions that shaped the development of the United States as a nation that rejected one of the most successful technical systems in use globally.
Using a comparative historical approach and qualitative analysis of archival material, Vera looks at American scientists, engineers, politicians, and industrialists active between 1787 and 1982 to determine what their goals were and explain what could actually be achieved given the political and economic conditions in which they lived. He argues that in order to understand why the United States failed to adopt the metric system, we must consider the interaction between three structural elements: historical timing, state infrastructural power, and international economic integration.
Vera systematically examines the conditions under which countries adopted the metric system, showing that its introduction was never an arbitrary decision. Countries that embraced the metric system voluntarily did so either because of major internal political transformations or large-scale changes in the international economy. Politically driven adoption of the metric system was the result of social revolution, a war of independence, national unification, or the drafting of a new constitution. Adoption of the system that was propelled by economic factors was part of an effort by economically stagnant countries to integrate into international markets.
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