I consider myself pretty conversant in metric units. I know that 20 kilograms is 44 pounds (double it and add 10%) and that five kilometers is a little over three miles (I’ve, uh, run a lot of 5Ks).

Hot and cold are measured using a numeric scale called temperature. Temperature scales are how we communicate about the weather, measure safety and comfort and explain the physical world. Using ...

Temperature in America is measured in degrees Fahrenheit, a system named after Polish-born physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736), who moved to the Netherlands and became one of the pioneers ...