In 1790 the French Assemblée Nationale set in train a process that would result in the metric system. But for quirks of history, the course of metrication might have had an Anglo-French dimension – and a different outcome.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Author information
Author notes
J. H. Freeman, who until recently was Counsellor for Science and Technology at the British Embassy in Paris, will shortly take up a British Nuclear Fuels Chair in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK.
- J. H. Freeman
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Freeman, J. The metre and the pendulum. Nature 348, 105–106 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/348105a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/348105a0