The Metric System and Decimal Coinage

Abstract

THERE are probably few readers of NATURE who do not realise that what is being referred to in the Press as “The War after the War” is nothing more than a tardy appreciation of the “war before the war” which Germany has been waging against England for a quarter to half a century in the applications of science to commerce. It has been stated over and over again that German firms have been ousting British trade in many countries by issuing price lists containing quotations in the metric system of weights and measures. A further element of success has been that the enterprising Germans have in many cases told prospective purchasers the exact amount of money in their own currency which they would have to pay in order to have the goods delivered at their house, free of carriage, customs dues, or all other charges.