Metric system touted at York Library talk Oct. 11
YORK, Maine — Twelve inches make a foot, three feet make a yard and 5,280 feet make a mile. Eight ounces make a cup, two cups make a pint, two pints make a quart and four quarts make a gallon.
These are examples of the British imperial measurement system, which the British colonies also used, and continued to use after the United States became a separate country following the Revolutionary War.
The metric system is based on units of ten. Ten millimeters make a centimeter, 100 centimeters and 1000 millimeters each make a meter and 1000 meters makes a kilometer. The metric system is far easier to understand and use than the imperial system. The U.S. is the only industrialized country which does not use the metric system as its official system of measurement, though, like countries throughout the world, we do use it for scientific purposes.
Join the York Public Library on Thursday, October 11, at noon, for a Brown Bag Lunch presentation by Brent A. Maynard, president of the York Metric Association.
Subjects to be discussed will include the basic units of the metric system, an explanation of the prefixes modifying them and how, in many ways, we are already using metric units in everyday life. The ease of converting from one unit to another in the metric system will be demonstrated. The important relationship between the liter, cubic meters, and the density of water will be explained.
"I have been strongly in favor of the [use of the] metric system since my freshman year of high school, when it was presented to me by an outstanding science teacher. Most of my working career was as a professor at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, Connecticut. As a professor I am aware that American students are put at a disadvantage by our not using the metric system."
York Metric Association was established in 1993 to promote the use of the metric system. York Metric Association has distributed educational materials, purchased metric speed limit signs for the town, and has written several newspaper articles to support the metric system.
The York Public Library is located at 15 Long Sands Road in York and is open on Tuesdays from 10 to 7, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10 to 5, and on Saturdays from 10 to 2.