Metrics for Architects, Designers, and Builders

The English system of measure is the offspring of many cultures. It is a hodgepodge of standards harvested over the centuries, now a system considered too obsolete and equivocal for our increasingly sophisticated and precise technology. In addition, the English system does not lend itself to the burst of worldwide trade which has occurred during the past half century; most of the trading nations have already discarded the system, including England.

In the beginning of human history, rudimentary units of measure were adequate. Parts of the human body such as the hand, arm, foot, and finger, became units of measure. Seeds and stones became measures of weight and volume. Time was calculated by celestial periods, such as "so many moons."

Eventually these early units of measure became grouped into systems, the Babylonian, Phileterian, Egyptian, Grecian Olympic, Roman, and ultimately English system. Incongruities have existed with all of them.