[Dr. Sivana]

reminiscing about some time he spent in Canada.

My Canadian relatives reminisce about the time the govenrment tried to force metric on the house building industry. Half built houses were stymied by non-fitting sheets of plywood, drywal and studs, and they had to go back.

Even after Canada has been on Metric for the most part for 40 years, ask a Canadian what he cooks a roast at in the oven, or how much he weighs. The answers will be in fahrenheit or pounds (maybe stone if they are Anglophiles). The signs at the Edmonton mall for vehicle clearance in the parking lot are in feet, because they want people to understand.

Ask a Canadian what a decimeter is, and you will get a blank stare, meaning there is no useable measurement between centimeter and meter. A kilogram of fish is too large a measure, and a gram is to small. So, fish is sold by the centigram, only no Canadaians seem to use the term centigram, so they say "100 gram", as in, I want to buy nine 100 grams of fish.

That is not progress.

[Moltke]

So, fish is sold by the centigram, only no Canadaians seem to use the term centigram, so they say "100 gram", as in, I want to buy nine 100 grams of fish.

As a centimeter is 1/100 of a meter, so is a centigram 1/100 of a gram, or 10 milligrams. What, do Canadians buy fish by individual scales?

Anyhoo, a base-10 system is already in use e.g. for currency, and anyone not capable of understanding a base-10 system must be an utter moron. The only reason people reject the metric system is out of pure spite that it wasn't invented in the US. Good luck doing any kind of work in science of high-tech without the metric system...