The French Revolution, which lasted from 1789 to 1799, played a significant role in paving the way for the discovery of the two standard units of measurement, the metric system. The metric system is a decimal system of measurement that uses the meter as the unit of length, the kilogram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time, among others.
During the French Revolution, there was a push for standardization in various aspects of society, including measurements. In 1790, the French National Assembly, which was the governing body during the revolution, appointed a committee to create a new, unified system of measurement that would be based on rational and scientific principles. This committee, known as the "Commission on Weights and Measures," was comprised of prominent scientists, including Jean-Baptiste Delambre, Pierre-Simon Laplace, and Joseph Louis Lagrange, among others.
The Commission on Weights and Measures worked diligently to create a universal system of measurement that would be based on a consistent and rational basis. They ultimately proposed the metric system, which was based on the principles of decimalization and the use of natural phenomena as reference points. For example, the meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator, passing through Paris, and the kilogram was defined as the mass of one liter of water at its freezing point.
The metric system was officially adopted in France in 1795 and was later promoted internationally, becoming the most widely used system of measurement in the world. The development of the metric system during the French Revolution paved the way for the discovery of the two standard units of measurement, the meter and the kilogram, which are still widely used today.