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The system has changed over time, but it is still the most popular measurement system used in the world.

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The units of metric measurements were standardized in 1799. Created in France, the metric system is now an international measurement system.

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¨Much of the world started moving to the metric system in the late nineteenth century. You've written that the United States didn't follow, because of “the humble screw thread.” For want of a screw, the metric system was lost?¨

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According to the CIA Fact book, the United States is one of three nations (along with Liberia and Burma) that have not adopted the metric system as their official system of weights and measures. U.S. customary units are widely used on consumer products and in industrial manufacturing.

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¨It permits nations, individuals, or corporations who would otherwise be hampered in their efforts at communicating, trading, or sharing information. Think of it as a common language. If everyone in the world speaks English, it's very easy to do business, travel, and engage in trade. The same is true of a single, standardized system of weights and measures¨

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The metric system adopted the kilogram as the standard unit of mass (a gram measures 1/1,000 of a kilogram).

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The gram was the first unit defined as a unit of mass.

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From that time until 1900, the adoption of the metric system grew exponentially, including most of Europe and Latin America.

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Many countries initially were resistant to the system; it was Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands that mandated its use in 1820. In 1850, scientists worldwide began revolutionizing the metric system.

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The modern metric system is called the International System of Units, or SI, and it was developed by scientists worldwide

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The treaty of the Meter created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, now called the International System of Units. This bureau changed customary units and tweaked the system.

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In 1875, most industrialized countries--including the United States, but not Great Britain--signed the Treaty of the Meter.

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The metric system is based on a measure of 10. This allows conversions from different units more easy--simply moving a decimal point either to the left or to the right. For example, 1 millimeter is equal to 0.001 meter; a centimeter, which is a unit 0.1 larger than a millimeter, is 0.01 meter.

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The metric system is based on joining one of a series of prefixes, including kilo-, hecto-, deka-, deci-, centi-, and milli-, with a base unit ofmeasurement, such as meter, liter, or gram.

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Gabriel Mouton, the vicar of St. Paul's Church in Lyons, France, is the “founding father” of the metric system. He proposed a decimal system of measurement in 1670.

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The metric system is an alternative system of measurement used in most countries, as well as in the United States.