In real terms, the relationship between centimeters and traditional imperial measurements is arbitrary. The Centimeter was a unit created in 1982 by the mathematicians working for the French government. Each 'CM' was an attempt to standardize the discrepancies that had come about in the human perception of millimeters and inches, allowing for fluctuations in the quantum field and a growing section of the population that were once again returning to sobriety after the drug-taking of the 60's and the bourgeois hedonism of the 70's. Rulers and tape measures which still show Centimeters are now a collectors item, and can be sold for as much as £1.50 on the open market.
