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b"Feet, inches, palms, cubits, rods\\u2026 all were SWEPT ASIDE on 28th September, 1889, when the first General Conference of the Weights and Measures Commission met in S\\xe8vres, France to refine a definition for the NEW universal measurement of distance: the metre.\\nThe calculation was painstakingly made by measuring a quarter of the meridian of the Earth - running from the North Pole to the Equator - and then dividing it into 10 million parts. Metal bars measuring exactly one metre were then distributed to attendees of the Conference.\\xa0\\nIn this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether this scientific method of calculating distance was *really* any better than barleycorns and man-size hugs; ask why the USA still hasn\\u2019t got on-board with the metric system; and explain why Napoleon might not have been as short as we think he was\\u2026\\xa0\\nFurther Reading:\\n\\u2022 \\u2018Galileo, Krypton, and How the Metric Standard Came to Be\\u2019 (WIRED, 2018): https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-the-perfectionists-history-meter/\\n\\u2022 \\u2018How France created the metric system\\u2019 (BBC Travel, 2018): https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180923-how-france-created-the-metric-system\\n\\u2022 \\u2018Who Invented the Meter?\\u2019 (It\\u2019s Okay To Be Smart, 2017):\\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3eHHwcMVcA\\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors\\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors\\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.\\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.\\n#1800s #Inventions #Science #Technology #France\\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices"