Abstract
In this chapter we discuss the history of measurements and standards across centuries, presenting the development of standards of units of length, time, temperature and electrical quantities from historical to contemporary units. Measurements of temperature and temperature scales, to which this book does not devote a separate chapter, are discussed at some length here. We also present the development of systems of measurement, from an early Chinese system consisting of units of length, volume and mass, through the first international systems to the SI system. The SI system is defined along with its seven base units: meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, candela and mole. We refer to the Metre Convention as the starting point of a wide international cooperation aimed at the unification of measurement units and the preservation of quality of standards. We discuss the organization of the international and national measurement services, and the role of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the National Metrological Institutes (NMIs).
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Nawrocki, W. (2019). Measures, Standards and Systems of Units. In: Introduction to Quantum Metrology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19677-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19677-6_2
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