Stuck in the Middle Ages

No wonder we're still debating whether evolution is real or not.

We're using the British Imperial measurement system that results in pearls like the following:

"To examine innovation in steam technology, we need a measure of how good a steam engine is. One important measure is the amount of work delivered by a given amount of fuel. This can be measured by the duty of a steam engine: the number of pounds of water that can be lifted one foot for each 94 pounds of coal consumed."

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=8370.

Let's try it again: duty of a steam engine is the number of pounds of water that can be lifted one foot for each 94 pounds of coal consumed.

Think how hard physics - no, any science! - in these units...