History Main / TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay

* During TheEighties, a conclusive switch to the metric system was widely anticipated in the United States. Obviously, that didn't happen, but at the time the expectation was so prevalent that the newly-finished [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19 Interstate 19]] put up signs with distances in kilometers. The program ran from 1975 to 1982, and it's worth noting that its failure was not necessarily because Americans disliked the metric system. Public opinion tended to be split or just ambivalent, so the Reagan administration couldn't justify the cost of overseeing and marketing the metrication effort, educating manufacturers, and changing highway signs. Several of the aforementioned metric road signs still stand today, particularly near the Canadian and Mexican borders.

* Used as a joke in ''ZenonGirlOfTheTwentyFirstCentury''. Zenon is from a space station, but when she arrives on Earth, she explodes a test tube because she was thinking in Celsius when all the instructions were in Fahrenheit. [[CriticalResearchFailure In a]] ''[[CriticalResearchFailure science class]]''.

Note that the United States actually ''does'' use the metric system already, in military and scientific endeavors, as well as on pharmaceuticals and nutritional information. (For example, soft drinks commonly come in 2- or 3-liter bottles.) In fact, USA's measures (not imperial -- that would be British, and there ''are'' differences, e.g. 1 imperial gallon equals 1.20095 U.S. liquid gallons) [[CrowningMomentOfFunny are defined in metric units]] in relevant legislation. Further details can be found on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States That Other Wiki]].

"Never heard of 'em," said the barman shortly. "Liter and half liter--that's all we serve. There's the glasses on the shelf in front of you."''

* September 23, 1999: NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter because one engineering team used metric units while another used English units for a key spacecraft operation. The software of the orbiter was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft itself expected figures in newtons. The craft descended too low into the Martian atmosphere and was destroyed by atmospheric stresses and friction.

* September 23, 1999: NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter because one engineering team used metric units while another used English units for a key spacecraft operation. The software of the orbiter was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft itself expected figures in newtons. The craft descended too low into the Martian atmosphere and was destroyed by atmospheric stresses and friction.

** To be fair, this is a universe that includes things like Fluid Space, EldritchAbominations, and plenty of other things. There has already been speculation that [[AlienGeometries ''Somehow'']] you might be able to smash the floor of Absolute Zero and go below, and ST is the right kind of universe where that could possibly happen.

* Though it's set "a long time ago", the ''StarWars'' films and ExpandedUniverse (though "inch" does appear occasionally).

* ''{{Film/Avatar}}'', naturally. ("[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klick Klick]]" is military slang for kilometer, in case you were wondering).

* ''AfterlifeBlues'''

* During TheEighties, a conclusive switch to the metric system was widely anticipated in the United States. Naturally, this did not come to pass, but the expectation was so prevalent that the newly-finished [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19 Interstate 19]] put up signs with distances in kilometers. The program ran from 1975 to 1982, and it's worth noting that its failure was not necessarily because Americans disliked the metric system. Public opinion tended to be split or just ambivalent, so the Reagan administration couldn't justify the cost of overseeing and marketing the metrication effort, educating manufacturers, and changing highway signs. Several of the aforementioned metric road signs still stand today, particularly near the Canadian and Mexican borders.
* September 23, 1999, NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter because one engineering team used metric units while another used English units for a key spacecraft operation. The software of the orbiter was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft itself expected figures in newtons. The craft descended too low into the Martian atmosphere and was destroyed by atmospheric stresses and friction.

Although fiction from the United States set in the current period tends to use [[AmericanCustomaryMeasurements Imperial measures]], said fiction, when it is about the future, is more likely to use the metric system instead. This may be because it makes things seem more futuristic: scientists tend to use metric units, and given that every single other country in existence save Myanmar and Liberia already uses the metric system -- at least officially -- it's entirely plausible that the United States will make the change sometime in the future (many would say it's only a matter of time).

While futuristic scifi embraces this trope, futuristic ''fantasy'' often averts it, as Imperial measurements seem more appropriate for a non-scientific milieu.

Note that the United States actually ''does'' use the metric system already, in military and scientific endeavors, as well as on pharamaceuticals and nutritional information (for example, soft drinks commonly come in 2- or 3-liter bottles). In fact, USA's measures (not Imperial -- that would be British, and there ''are'' differences, e.g. 1 Imperial gallon equals 1.20095 U.S. liquid gallons) [[CrowningMomentOfFunny are defined in metric units]] in relevant legislation. Further details can be found on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States The Other Wiki]].

* ''{{Film/Avatar}}'', naturally. ('[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klick Klick]]' is military slang for kilometer, in case you were wondering).
* Though it's set "a long time ago", ''StarWars''. And especially the ExpandedUniverse, though "inch" does appear occasionally.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by Scottish author [=~Ken MacLeod~=]'s ''FallRevolution'' books. When asked why spacecraft use Imperial measures, Ellie May Ngwethru replies, "Fucking NASA". [[DidNotDoTheResearch Which is completely wrong]]; the major reason that the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed was that NASA and JPL were using metric but Lockheed-Martin was using imperial, and didn't check the measurements.

* {{Honorverse}} is thoroughly metric (even the DeepSouth of Grayson), to the point that Honor, while reading ''OliverTwist'' in her spare time, wondered what those "inches" and "pounds" mean and how much would it be. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when the Grayson pasttime of baseball is introduced in the books. Despite using metric for everything else, the Graysons stubbornly insist on using American measurements for baseball, because if they attempted to use Metric, they'd either end up with crufty measurements (keeping the field the right dimensions) or end up with a field that was slightly off in distances. They refuse to update the game to include modern measurements because Baseball is SeriousBusiness.
* DavidDrake's ''{{RCN}}'' has Cinnabar use the Imperial system while their enemies the Alliance (''not'' TheAlliance) use metric -- but [[WordOfGod Drake]] says that's just TranslationConvention because he believes that after more than a thousand years, humanity will have scrapped both systems in favor of something -- or several somethings -- else.

* {{Warhammer40000}} uses metric in it's novels (But the game mechanics use Imperial).

* ''StarTrek'' caused a scientific error due to this trope. During the production of the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Royale", they "converted" a temperature to Celsius (presumably to make it more "futurey") by simply swapping the unit names. The original temperature was -291 degrees Fahrenheit (-179 degrees Celsius), and the lowest possible temperature (absolute zero) is -273.15 degrees Celsius... whoops.
* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and its movies were known for using both the metric and imperial systems, sometimes in the same sentence, in a faintly baffling manner... [[RealityIsUnrealistic exactly like the modern US military and scientific community]].

* While ''MobileSuitGundam'' & its numerous spinoffs listing all the HumongousMecha's specs in metric doesn't really qualify as the series is from Japan, where the metric system is widely used, the fact that few if any American translations bother to convert them is likely due to this trope.

* ''{{Champions}}''. As of 6th Edition, all distances are in meters or kilometers. (Previous editions used "hexes" as a unit of distance or area, which were 2 meters across.)
* Inverted in Steve Jackson Games' ''{{GURPS}}'' which despite the "Generic Universal" part of its name, has stuck firmly with the Imperial system for the past twenty years, even when offering a licensed conversion of the ''{{Traveller}}'' system.
** Apparently so much of the player base is American that they can't afford to switch to metric because like many small RPG makers [=SJGames=] is a margin business. They do at least give a simple metrication of the units in the Basic Set.

* ''{{Halo}}''. Mostly brought up in the ExpandedUniverse.

* The essentially culturally American human society shown in ''SchlockMercenary'' generally uses the metric system even among civilians, but every now and then the (American) author forgets himself.
* ''AfterlifeBlues'''s future interplanetary society. Probably ''AMiracleOfScience'' as well, but the only place I can remember human-scale measurements being used was in TheRant.

* During TheEighties, a conclusive switch to the metric system was widely anticipated in the United States. Naturally, this did not come to pass, but the expectation was so prevalent that the newly-finished [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19 Interstate 19]] had signs with distances in kilometers put up. The program ran from 1975 to 1982, and it's worth noting that its failure was not necessarily because Americans disliked the Metric system. They didn't hate it, but they didn't love it either, so the Reagan administration couldn't justify the cost of overseeing and marketing the metrication effort, educating manufacturers, and changing highway signs. Several of the aforementioned metric road signs still stand today, particularly near the Canadian and Mexican borders.

* RealLife: During TheEighties, a conclusive switch to the metric system was widely anticipated in the United States. Naturally, this did not come to pass, but the expectation was so prevalent that the newly-finished [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_19 Interstate 19]] had signs with distances in kilometers put up. The program ran from 1975 to 1982, and it's worth noting that its failure was not necessarily because Americans disliked the Metric system. They didn't hate it, but they didn't love it either, so the Reagan administration couldn't justify the cost of overseeing and marketing the metrication effort, educating manufacturers, and changing highway signs. Several of the aforementioned metric road signs still stand today, particularly near the Canadian and Mexican borders.

* RealLife: September 23, 1999, NASA lost the $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter because one engineering team used metric units while another used English units for a key spacecraft operation. The software of the orbiter was working in pounds force, while the spacecraft itself expected figures in newtons. The craft descended too low into the Martian atmosphere and was destroyed by atmospheric stresses and friction.

Note that the United States actually ''does'' use the metric system already, in military and scientific endeavors, as well as on pharamaceuticals and nutritional information (for example, soft drinks commonly come in 2- or 3-liter bottles). In fact, USA's measures (not Imperial -- that would be British, and there ''are'' differences, e.g. 1 Imperial gallon equals 1.2 USA's gallons) [[CrowningMomentOfFunny are defined in metric units]] in relevant legislation. Further details can be found on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States The Other Wiki]].

* ''{{Film/Avatar}}'', naturally. ('[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klick Klick]]' is military slang for kilometre, in case you were wondering).

Although American fiction set in the current period tends to use [[AmericanCustomaryMeasurements Imperial measures]], American fiction about the future is more likely to use the metric system instead. This may be because it makes things seem more futuristic: scientists tend to use metric units, and given that every single other country in existence save Myanmar and Liberia already uses the metric system -- at least officially -- it's entirely plausible that America will make the change sometime in the future (many would say it's only a matter of time).

Note that the United States actually ''does'' use the metric system already, in military and scientific endeavors, as well as on pharamaceuticals and nutritional information (for example, soft drinks commonly come in 2- or 3-liter bottles). In fact, American measures (not Imperial -- that would be British, and there ''are'' differences, e.g. 1 Imperial gallon equals 1.2 American gallons) [[CrowningMomentOfFunny are defined in metric units]] in relevant legislation. Further details can be found on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system_in_the_United_States The Other Wiki]].

* ''StarWars''. And especially the ExpandedUniverse, though "inch" does appear occasionally.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by Scottish author [=~Ken MacLeod~=]'s ''FallRevolution'' books. When asked why spacecraft use Imperial measures, Ellie May Ngwethru replies, "Fucking NASA". [[DidNotDoTheResearch Which is completely wrong]]; the major reason that the Mars Polar Lander crashed was that NASA and JPL were using metric but Lockheed-Martin was using imperial, and didn't check the measurements.

** Apparently so much of the player base is American that they can't afford to switch to metric because like many small RPG makes [=SJGames=] is a margin business. They do at least give a simple metrication of the units in the Basic Set.

* Thoroughly averted by LarryNiven. His stories are for American audiences, so his {{Ringworld}} (for example) is "six hundred million miles" in circumference.