The metric system, a decimal system of measurement, was born out of the French Revolution's desire for rationality and universality. Before its creation, measurement systems across France and the rest of the world were chaotic and inconsistent. In 1790, the French National Assembly commissioned the French Academy of Sciences to create a new, logical system. This led to the definition of the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator. The system was designed to be simple, with units based on multiples of ten.

Despite its logical design, adoption was slow. It wasn't until 1840 that the metric system became the sole legal system of measurement in France. Its adoption spread across Europe and the world throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, championed for its ease of use in science, trade, and industry. Today, only a handful of countries, most notably the United States, have not fully adopted the metric system as their official system of measurement.