The Imperial system is more arbitrary than the metric system, because not all feet, finger joints, arms, and paces are uniform. To get uniformity and precision, a standard still has to be imposed. Is the length of your own foot exactly 12 of your finger joints? Is your own arm’s reach exactly three times the length of your foot? Measuring things in foot-lengths, knucklespans, paces, and so on is great for rough estimates, but useless for engineering, architecture, surveying, tailoring, and so on.
The great thing about the metric system is that the basic units are interrelated: 1 liter is 1000 cubic centimeters. The mass of 1 milliliter of water is 1 gram. The heat required to raise 1 milliliter of water 1 degree centigrade (the scale where water freezes at 0 and boils at 100) is 1 calorie.
The Imperial system is more arbitrary than the metric system, because not all feet, finger joints, arms, and paces are uniform. To get uniformity and precision, a standard still has to be imposed. Is the length of your own foot exactly 12 of your finger joints? Is your own arm’s reach exactly three times the length of your foot? Measuring things in foot-lengths, knucklespans, paces, and so on is great for rough estimates, but useless for engineering, architecture, surveying, tailoring, and so on.
The great thing about the metric system is that the basic units are interrelated: 1 liter is 1000 cubic centimeters. The mass of 1 milliliter of water is 1 gram. The heat required to raise 1 milliliter of water 1 degree centigrade (the scale where water freezes at 0 and boils at 100) is 1 calorie.