#  Other Standards: The Meter and More 

 



How about in Europe? Just as in the Americas, for much of the early modern period, complete standardization, at least as we think of it today, was elusive. Measuring Difference includes several examples of wooden and metal rules that reflect an inconsistent metrological landscape across the Atlantic.

   ![Ruler showing both English and Rhenish foot measures](/sites/g/files/omnuum7766/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/measuring-difference/files/rhenish_foot_low.png?itok=cfoGVT-S) 

 

*Wooden Rule With English And Rhenish Feet, Divided Into Digits And Tenths, Owned By Harvard President Edward Holyoke, c. 1720. CHSI #5454.*This wooden rule, for example, from c. 1720, combines both English and Rhenish feet, and is further divided into digits and tenths. It was once owned by former Harvard President Edward Holyoke. The English and Dutch had their own measurement units. The Rhenish foot was replaced by the Napoleonic meter (see below), while the English foot persisted, with occasional modifications, in the UK and US, replacing many traditional units in the process.

   ![Standard rule of one meter](/sites/g/files/omnuum7766/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/measuring-difference/files/meter_rule_low.png?itok=cDAeHLyJ) 

 

*Brass Meter Standard (France, 1794). CHSI #DW0535*This is a brass standard measure of the meter, from 1794. It represents a key length measure in the metric system, which today is used as either the exclusive or primary system of measurement by about 95% of the world’s population. The meter was invented during the French Revolution to replace previous units. French scientists surveyed for over six years to establish this length.

   ![Ruler showing the unit 'pied du roi'](/sites/g/files/omnuum7766/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/measuring-difference/files/pied_du_roi_low.png?itok=Rbde5Qml) 

 

*Folding Foot Rule with Steel Ends (Imperial and Metric Measures, France, 1794). CHSI 1998-1-0003.*New lengths, however, were only as effective as people’s ability to convert between them and other pertinent units of measurement. This folding foot rule with steel ends, also dating from 1794, was used to directly compare imperial and metric units, and as such may have been a transitional device during an important moment in the history of measurement. The old imperial measurement it includes was the pied du roi, or royal foot, which measured 32.48 cm. Though this was related to the English unit, the French foot was slightly longer than its equivalent across the Channel. The broader takeaway, however, is that despite efforts to standardize, vernacular measurements persisted across communities, villages, and regions.

When did you last have to translate between multiple systems of measurement? How did you do so? And what were you measuring?

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