Why did the British invent the imperial system and then abandon it?
In: Economics
The British did not invent the imperial system. It was a system that formed organically. What the British did was to standardise the weights and measurements. However this was not a uniquely British thing as this was done all over the world, to different standards. For example the British imperial system is not the same as the US standard system. Even to this day we use different standards. I have used five different inch standards originating from different parts of the world and still used in different industries, and this is long after the world have switched to metric.
And this also explains why everyone is switching to metric. It is one standard that everyone can use no matter where in the world they are and in what industry they are in. No more having to wonder if you are measuring something in US gallons or British gallons.
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