Simon Stevin - Simon Stevin published 'The Tenth' in 1585. The mile comes from the Latin 'mille passus', based on the Roman Legion's 1,000 paces. 'Decimal' is the Latin word for 'ten.' The word 'metre' was adopted only in 1793 by the French Academy of Science, derived from the Greek word 'metron', meaning 'a measure.' The metric system was adopted officially in France in 1799. A study by Richard Phelps of the Pelavin Research Center of the American Institutes for Research declares that a transition to metric usage in the US would be a major factor in correcting the poor performance by US students in math and science.