American scientists who were born and raised in this country, learned the standard English measurement system long before encountering the metric system in college.
Because they're Americans, the English system of measure is their 'first language'. They haven't forgotten it, and can communicate simple concepts of measure in that language just as fluently as they can in the metric language.
Those who speak to laymen on regular basis, do them a disservice by using a language they have no practical experience with. It actually creates non-comprehension in the recipient.
Say the word 'kilometer' to me, and I know that it's shorter than a mile, but I don't have any real world estimate of how long a kilometer really is. On the other hand, I've walked many a mile, and have an innate sense of that linear proportion. Communicating units of distance in terms of miles creates an instant understanding of the approximate quantity of distance in my mind.
The exact reverse would happen if you communicated units of measure in the English system to an audience of people who live in a metric based country.
“The exact reverse would happen if you communicated units of measure in the English system to an audience of people who live in a metric based country”.
Exactly right...I have limited understanding of the metric system of measurement so I have to use a chart. In general conversation though I am lost.