Whatever Happened to the Metric System?: How America Kept Its Feet - Hardcover

“Whatever Happened to the Metric System? is about much more than just the metric system. It's an indispensable guide for understanding our world's centuries-long process of inching toward standardization.” ―Wall Street Journal

“National and international politics, treaties, wars - all play a role in seeing the full picture of the development of a system of measurements used by the vast majority of the world's countries. Marciano knits these seemingly disparate threads into a rich narrative.” ―NY Journal of Books

“A lively perspective on globalism as it relates to currency and systems of measurement.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Readers will se a different side of metric enthusiasts - including Napolean and Thomas Jefferson - as Marciano uncovers the relationship between metric system advocates and social reform movements. Marciano writes with humor and a keen eye, and his fascinating tales reveal how extensively mesaurement has affected history.” ―Publishers Weekly

“An intriguing look at why the system failed to take hold here...Marciano's narrative provides an overview of measurement in all its manifold forms, including currency, clock and calendar. Each chapter is broken up into easy-to-absorb sections that bring fluidity and logic to a complex tale. Weighty stuff, but the gifted Marciano makes light work of it.” ―Julie Hale, BookPage

“Marciano's often irreverent descriptions of many of the players in the effort to establish systems for distance, length, volume, weight, and temperature is both interesting and troubling.” ―Library Journal

“This book sounds like kilograms of fun!.” ―Brooklyn Paper