Systems of Measurement

The metric system was conceived in 17th century by philosopher John Wilkens, who wanted to standardize the way things were measured.  At the time, almost every country in Europe used its own measuring system. Sometimes, even different regions of the country would use different forms of measurement.  However the metric system was not accepted until the late 18th Century in France, where scientists were becoming frustrated with the lack of consistency in measurement.  Also, because this was during the time of the French Revolution, adaption of the metric system was used as a way to rebel against the traditional way of thinking. As said by Ken Alder, the metric system was intended to be, “for all people, for all time.” By the end of the 19th Century the metric system became widely accepted and was standard in practically all of Europe and is now the scientific standard of how things are measured.  Physical examples of the units of measurement like the meter and kilogram were kept in Paris and used as the standard — a platinum rod exactly the length of one meter and a platinum-iridium metal cylinder that weighed a kilogram were made and protected in Paris. However, scientists knew that using physical objects could be problematic — that these measurements could be destroyed or damaged.  Even when objects are sitting untouched, they will chemically decompose.  This means that even though they are changing their size, they are still defined as either one kilogram or one meter because they set the standard.

Percival Everett explores this problem in his poem, “(Logic).”  In section 4 of the poem, he uses the example of the units of measurement as a way to show that physical objects can be destroyed, even when they are fundamental to us.  We keep them protected, “…where/no one can see them,” to try and keep them from being destroyed because if they were, we would lose the standard of measuring. Units of measurement are meaningless if there isn’t something to compare it to.  In section 6, he explains how even though physical objects can be destroyed, conceptual ideas of the measurement cannot. He shows that seven men can die, or a group of seven objects can be destroyed, but the idea of “seven” cannot be destroyed.  “Seven” is just an idea that someone thought of as a way to group things together. Even if a group of seven things are destroyed, as long as someone knows how to count, they can make another group of seven. With measurements, you need a concrete object to know exactly how long something is or how much something weighs.   

Instead of using physical objects, scientists are now using abstract constants of nature (like Everett’s point in section 6) to measure things.  In 1960, it was decided that instead of using the platinum rod as a standard to the meter, the meter would be redefined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in ​1⁄299,792,458 of a second.  This is incredibly specific and although this measurement is not a physical object, it can be accurately and universally measured. As far as we know, the speed of light in a vacuum will never change, making this measurement consistent.  Last Friday, the kilogram was redefined as defining the Planck constant to be exactly 6.62607015×10−34 kg⋅m2⋅s−1. This approach effectively defines the kilogram in terms of the second and the meter, and will take effect on May 20th, 2019.  Now there are no measurements in the International System of Units that are defined using physical objects, and all are defined by abstract constants.  

I think the point Percival Everett is trying to make in sections 4 and 6 of “(Logic)” is that it is important not measure things based on objects that can change.  The first line of section 4 is, “The thing must be!” because the speaker is comparing the thing against the standards, but these are subject to change.  Since 1889, the platinum cylinder that defined the kilogram lost about 50 micrograms, about the size of an eyelash.  Because is the standard, even though the platinum cylinder weighs less than how much it weighed when it was produced it still weighs one kilogram.  Physical objects change, but abstract measurements do not.

 

 

 

Lim, Xiaozhi. “The Kilogram Is Dead. Long Live the Kilogram!” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/science/kilogram-physics-measurement.html.

Resnick, Brian. “The World Just Redefined the Kilogram.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 16 Nov. 2018, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/11/14/18072368/kilogram-kibble-redefine-weight-science.

“The History of the Metric System: from the French Revolution to the SI • TheGIST.” TheGIST, TheGIST, 9 May 2015, the-gist.org/2014/05/the-history-of-the-metric-system-from-the-french-revolution-to-the-si/#easy-footnote-1-4118.