How do you figure we don't use the metric system? I can go out to my socket set and find plenty of metric pieces. The last time I wrenched on my Corvette, it used either 11mm or 7mm sockets. It might not be a standard across everything, but it is used here. It is also harder to change something like a measurement system for a country with 300 million people and such a large land mass. Guess when you live on an island, you don't understand the enormity of things.
I find it hard to understand how anyone, at any point in history, at any time in their lives, could find it better to use the Imperial system rather than the metric system. The reason we count in base 10 is because we have 10 fingers. So why not have a measurement system that measures increments in powers of 10? We do not count in base 12, 3, 1760, 20, 8, 16, and 14 all at once. In case you were wondering:
12 inches in a foot
3 feet in a yard
1760 yards in a mile
20 fl. ounce in a pint
8 pints to a gallon
16 ounces to a pound
14 pounds to a stone
With the metric system, it all makes sense, and the whole thing is built on a set of mostly consistent rules: the kilo- prefix means a thousand, mega- means a million, milli- means a thousandth, micro- means a millionth, etc. Instantly you have a measuring system that is consistent, scalable to very large or very small quantities, and most important, easily remembered.
Also, note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication
All the countries in the list had units of measurement before they switched to the Metric system. China alone had a population of ~480 million (according to Wolfram Alpha) in 1925 when they changed. And as you have noted, much of the scientific community (and including people like engineers and other science-related trades and professions) already use the metric system.
Maybe it's because we don't limit ourselves to only counting to 10.
The current system isn't hard...does it sometimes take a bit of "math and magic" to make conversions? Perhaps, but most American 5th graders can do it...
Just goes to show, the rest of the world isn't smarter than a 5th grader.
Laughable. Instead of catching the bus I could walk the 3 or 4 hours from my house to the university where I study. Does it means I should do it, just because it's possible?
Multiply numerator and denominator by two, add one to numerator. Or, add one to numerator and divide numerator and denominator by two.
Because that is so much easier than "add 1"
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