In other words, the French introduced not only national standards, but a system of standards. It survives today as the metric system.

Why doesn’t the U.S. use the Metric System? Pirates. In the late 1700s, the U.S. had no standardized system—each state used different measures, causing chaos in commerce. George Washington called for ...

While most of the rest of the world uses the metric system (formally known as the International System of Units, or SI), the United States uses the U.S. Customary System, which—fun fact—is ...

A nanometer (nm) is a unit of length in the metric system, defined as one billionth (10-9) of a meter (m). The meter is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), making the ...

A nanosecond (ns) is a unit of time in the metric system, equal to one billionth (10-9) of a second (s). The second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), making the ...

In the meantime, a new system of weights and measures, developed by French scientists following the Revolution of 1789, gained increasing international use. This metric system had as its fundamental ...