Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from New Theories in Astronomy
These re?ections are in greater or lesser degree applicable to all knowledge and science of all kinds, even theological, in all their individual branches, and can be very easily shown to be both reasonable and true. And it may be added, or rather it is necessary to add, that every one of all the branches of all Of them has a very manifest tendency towards despotism to impose its sway and way of thinking upon the whole world.
At various intervals during the present century speculation has been indulged in, and more or less lively discussion has taken place about the great benefit it would confer on uni versal humanity, were all the weights and measures of the whole earth arranged on the same standard. The universal standard proposed has been, of course, the metrical system, which had been elaborated by French sen/ants who most pro bably thought they had arrived at such a state of knowledge that they were able to establish the foundations of all science of all kinds and for all time, upon the most sure and most durable principles. These periods of metrical fever, so to Speak, seem to come on without any apparent immediately exciting cause, and some people succumb to the disease, others do not, just the same as in the cases of cholera, in?uenza, plague, etc. Whether some species of inoculation for it may be discovered, or whether it will be found that an unlimited attack is really perfect health, will most probably be found out in the course of time, although it may be some centuries hence. What is of interest to under stand at the present time is, what are the benefits to be derived from the proposed universal standard of weights and measures, and how they are to be attained.
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