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Converter - Weights and Measures

Free Measurement Conversion EXPAT CONVERTER by Macgamesandmore.com Download Now for Mac (872 KB) Download Now for PC (744 KB) Download Now for Linux (1 MB) chmod +x MyApplication && ./MyApplication Many people spend a lot of time in other countries outside their homelands and sometimes it's disorienting for reasons ranging from different, weird smells to measurement systems. Regarding the latter, I have a few things to say...Most of the world uses the METRIC system! Not only that, the metric system seems to make much more sense over the Imperial System (aka The English System) because of the convenient use of the units of 10. That said, when someone says it's 5 degrees celsius outside, they might as well be speaking Martian. (I'm just too used to fahrenheit.) This free application made with RealBasic is a converter for expats or anyone needing to convert something from one system to another. I hope it comes in handy for you.

A Quick History of the Measuring Systems According to historical findings and from Biblical references, early Egyptians and Babylonians began using measures based on forearm, hand, and finger length. To measure volume, containers were filled with plant seeds or stones, then those were counted to determine a standard measure of volume and weight. In the UK, many people, still to this day, report their body weight in stones. Another unit that did not evolve is the "carat" which was originally based on carob seeds, is still used as the mass unit to measure gems. As time progressed, different measurement systems emerged (instead of one) due to limited international trade and communication.  The Imperial System (aka English System) The system Americans use today is nearly the same as the one brought to America by the English colonists - The very system originally stemming from Babylonian, Egyptian, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman - French. So, the ancient "digit," "palm,","span," and "cubit" units evolved into the "inch," "foot," and "yard."  The Metric System During the French Revolution (1790), the French Academy of Sciences estabished an invariable standard for all the measures and all the weights, and based the measures on the convenient units of 10. France made the metric system compulsory in 1840 and many other countries have followed suit since.