Geeees Lew.. Relating to your example on international standards, Let me enlighten you…… Its all done by design.
I designed and manufactured crimping machines for electrical leaved cores for coils for a supplier in Wales back in the eighties, I made up my own thread sizes and often reversed them, just because I wanted it harder for them or whomever to reverse engineer them alas eliminating me as a supplier, I still use this practice today.
It’s funny how a timing belt snaps at 100,000 miles on a VW Diesel engine. It’s funny why Gm, Ford and Chrysler use both thread systems on there vehicles, not forgetting every bloody torx ,slothead, Phillips, hex, 12 point, 6 point bla bla for fasteners.
Shuffling forward, imperial or Metric, it’s all maths, the power comes from going deeper past the decimal point.
Anthony.