Defining and measuring nature :the make of all things /

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"Version: 20200701"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.4. Measurement in the modern world (II) -- 4.1. Envy, money, terror, and the metric system -- 4.2. The endgame -- 4.3. Avez-vous l'heure s'il vous plait? -- 4.4. Falling out of favour with the metric system5. Creating the language that is science -- 5.1. Dividing apples with oranges to make ... something different -- 5.2. The consequences of mixing units -- 5.3. Derived units -- 5.4. A final comment on the value of a quantity6. What was not in the original metric system? -- 6.1. Energy, work, and power -- 6.2. Electricity -- 6.3. The molecule meme -- 6.4. Unit conversion in electromagnetism7. Measurement in the age of scientific certainty -- 7.1. The Convention du m?etre -- 7.2. Conf?erence g?en?erale des poids et mesures (CGPM) -- 7.3. Comit?e international des poids et mesures (CIPM) -- 7.4. Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM)8. A true universal language : the SI -- 8.1. Even scientists cannot always agree on units9. 20th century confusions and refinements in measurement -- 9.1. International politics -- 9.2. Events at the BIPM during the Fall of France, June 1940 -- 9.3. Two peoples separated by a common system of weights and measures10. The birth of the Quantum-SI -- 10.1. The need for change -- 10.2. The problem that was the kilogram -- 10.3. The background to the redefinition11. The base units of the Syst?eme International des Unites (I) -- 11.1. The base unit of length is the metre (m) -- 11.2. The base unit of mass is the kilogram (kg) -- 11.3. The base unit of electric current is the ampere (A) -- 11.4. The base unit of thermodynamic temperature is the kelvin (K) -- 11.5. The base unit of light intensity is the candela (cd) -- 11.6. The base unit of amount of substance is the mole (mol)12. The base units of the Syst?eme International des Unites (II) -- 12.1. The base unit of time is the second (s) -- 12.2. The future of frequency standards -- 12.3. The mechanism of an optical clock -- 12.4. Secondary representations of the second -- 12.5. Possible applications of optical clocks13. The new Syst?eme international des unites -- 13.1. Some further details of the Quantum-SI -- 13.2. Experimental measurements of the elementary charge, e -- 13.3. The problem of the permeability of space in the new SI -- 13.4. Determination of the Planck constant -- 13.5. Measurement of NA by x-ray diffraction14. For this is science -- 14.1. Units of measurement must evolve, because science evolves -- 14.2. The constants of Nature -- 14.3. Final thoughts on the evolution of units of measurement.Introduction : the origin of observation and measurement -- 1. Measurement in antiquity -- 1.1. Man is the measure of all things -- 1.2. Seeds and cosmic forces -- 1.3. The Bronze-Age -- 1.4. Ancient time metrology : the calendar -- 1.5. The Roman Empire2. Measurement in the early modern period -- 2.1. 'Measured by the King's iron rod' -- 2.2. Measuring the world -- 2.3. The pendulum : the world's first precision measuring device -- 2.4. 'Dear boy ...'3. Measurement in the modern world (I) -- 3.1. Surveying and measuring the Earth -- 3.2. The circumference of the Earth -- 3.3. The Chinese survey -- 3.4. La R?evolution Fran?caise -- 3.5. Defining the size of the world -- 3.6. The metric survey -- 3.7. The error in all thingsMeasurement forms an essential part of our view of the world. Our world is measured and calibrated, and we are all subject to the tyranny of these numbers. In this updated and extended edition, Jeffrey Huw Williams outlines the history of measurement; particularly of the International System of units (SI). Since the previous edition, the base units of the SI have been redefined; realising a 150-year-old dream for a measurement system based on unchanging, fundamental quantities of nature. This change has created a new SI, a Quantum-SI, which will significantly change the way we look at nature in a quantitative manner, and greatly facilitate the advance of science.Scientists, engineers, metrologists.Also available in print.Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.Following a PhD in chemical physics from Cambridge University, Jeffrey Huw Williams worked as a research scientist in the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Illinois, and subsequently as a physicist at the Institute Laue-Langevin, France. Leaving research, Jeffrey moved to the world of science publishing and the communication of science by becoming the European editor for the physical sciences for the AAAS's Science and subsequently, the Assistant Executive Secretary of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Most recently, 2003-2008, he was the head of publications at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), S?evres. It was during these years at the BIPM that he became interested in, and familiar with the origin of the Metric System, its subsequent evolution into the SI, and the transformation into the Quantum-SI. At the BIPM, he was the editor of their journal Metrologia. Jeffrey has written widely about science, technology, the impact of science on society and the individual for general-interest magazines such as New Scientist and for more specialized magazines (Chemistry in Britain, Physics Today, Chemical & Engineering News, Physics World and Chemistry and Industry).Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 4, 2020).

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Publisher

: .,

Collation

1 online resource (various pagings) :illustrations (some color).

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780750331432

Classification

530.8/1

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Edition

Second edition.

Subject(s)

TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Measurement.
Weights and measures
Measurement
Metric system
Mensuration & systems of measurement.

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Jeffrey Huw Williams.

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