Global Prevalence

• The metric system is almost universal.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  A major advantage of the metric system is that it is the world's dominate form of measurement. Therefore, someone trying to convey information to someone across national boundaries would be best able to communicate in metric, as this system is used in most nations. People in different countries are most likely to use meters instead of feet or yards.
  
  

Standardized

• The second is based on the radioactive decay of cesium atoms.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The seven base units of the metric system are the meter, the kilogram, the second, the ampere, the Kelvin degree, the mole and the candela. Each of these can be traced back to a fundamental unit of reality. This means that anywhere in the universe, the fundamental units can be calculated. For example, the second relates to the length of 9,192,631,770 decay periods of cesium. So anyone with the right tools and some cesium could calculate a perfect second.
  
  

Metric Math

• The metric system is based on powers of 10 to make conversions easier within metric.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  Because the metric system is based on 10s, it is easier to convert between metric quantities. For example, a kilogram, a unit of weight, can be unwieldy for smaller masses. In this case, the kilogram can be converted to grams. Because "kilo" means 1,000 in the SI system, one must only divide a kilogram by 1,000 to convert the mass to grams. With the prefixes of SI, one only has to move the decimal point in a number to convert between SI units.
  
  

Use in Science and Engineering

• All scientists use the metric system in their work.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The National Institute of Standards and Technology states that the use of the metric system is universal in the sciences. Indeed, most introductory science classes (physics, biology, chemistry) will include a detailed discussion of the metric system in the first weeks. The sciences (and related fields like engineering) use metric for a combination of the previously stated reasons.