Herbert Spencer and the Politics of Standardization in England and the United States

• In Event: 067 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Legitimizing Knowledge

Abstract

During the 1890s Herbert Spencer (arguably the most celebrated sociologist of his time) and William Thompson¬ (known as Lord Kelvin and arguably the most celebrated physicist of his time), participated in a heated debate over the pertinence of adopting the decimal metric system of weights and measures in the United States and the United Kingdom. Spencer was a forceful opponent of the metric system and wrote a series of thoughtful articles on the matter, based on sociological arguments about the nature of science and non-expert knowledge. Kelvin used the weight of his name to support the adoption of the metric system. This was both and intellectual dispute (played in journals and newspapers) and a political fight with interventions in the British Parliament and the United States Congress. This paper analyzes the writings by Spencer and Kelvin on this subject and the political repercussions of their dispute. Particularly relevant is Spencer’s anti-metric legacy, which had a significant influence on individuals and organizations that opposed metrication at both sides of the Atlantic during the first decades of the twentieth century.

Author

• Hector Vera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México