464 HISTORY OF THE COMMIT!! I ON S< II \< I AND TECHNOLOGY 



Burma, Gambia, Ghana, Jamaica, Liberia, Muscat and Oman, Nauru, 

 Sierra Leone, Southern Yemen, Tonga, Trinidad, and the United 

 States. And the list was narrowing every year. 



COMMITTEE BRIEFED ON STUDY REPORT 



There once was a student named Peter 



Who asked, "Why use meter and liter?" 



But when he found out 



He let out a shout: 



"Cause meter and liter are neater!" 



On September 14, 1971, Dr. Branscomb and Mr. De Simone briefed 

 the committee on the study report. Chairman Miller noted that 102 

 years had elapsed between the 1866 law legalizing the metric system, 

 and the 1968 law authorizing the study, adding: 



In the event any further metric legislation is necessary, I hope that another 

 102 years won't elapse before it is passed. 



Dr. Branscomb acknowledged at the outset: 



It was your committee which took the initiative in asking that the study be 

 made. It is fitting, therefore, that this should be the first hearing on the metric report. 



Dr. Branscomb told the committee that as the study progressed it 

 became apparent that the United States was already increasing its 

 use of the metric system, albeit slowly, and that sooner or later the 

 United States would become predominantly metric. 

 At the briefing, Miller asked Dr. Branscomb: 



How was the period of 10 years arrived at? Is this something you pulled out of 

 the hat or has it some sound basis? 



Dr. Branscomb replied: 



It is never a good time to do something that is inconvenient and will not be 

 easy, but something regarding which the benefits are long-lasting. There is a specific 

 reason why now — that is, in the next year or two — is the time this 10-year effort 

 should begin. Indeed, it should have already begun, and that is based on the data 

 contained in our report on the increase of activity in the international standards 

 organization. If we wait ten years and then begin a metric change-over, there will 

 at that time probably exist a full set of 10 or 15 thousand design practices and habits 

 and convictions of all our competitors' technology. If we change to metric at that 

 time, the meaning of the word change to metric will be change to international 

 metric standards. Those standards will then embody our competitors' technology 

 and we will bear the cost of the hardware changes. 



At the 1971 briefing, several members of the committee expressed 

 concerns. Chairman Miller was disappointed that draft legislation 

 defining the recommendations in the report was not transmitted with 

 the report. Dr. Branscomb indicated that there was a "variety of 



