Overview
- Overviews the historic evolution of the metric system from its birth
- Presents the roles of constants of nature in the formulation of the 18th-century metric system
- Discusses the role of the metric system in the United States
Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science (BRIEFSMOLECULAR)
Part of the book sub series: History of Chemistry (BRIESFHISTCHEM)
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About this book
This book succinctly traces the history of the metric system from early modern proposals of decimal measures, to the birth of the system in Revolutionary France, through its formal international adoption under the supervision of an international General Committee of Weights and Measures (CGPM), to its later expansion into the International System of Units (SI), currently formulated entirely in terms of physical constants. The wide range of human activities that employ weights and measures, from practical commerce to esoteric science, influenced both the development and the diffusion of the metric system. The roles of constants of nature in the formulation of the 18th-century metric system and in the 21st-century reformulation of the SI are described. Finally, the status of the system in the United States, the last major holdout against its everyday use, is also discussed.
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: A Brief History of the Metric System
Book Subtitle: From Revolutionary France to the Constant-Based SI
Authors: Carmen J. Giunta
Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28436-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials Science, Chemistry and Material Science (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-28435-9Published: 16 April 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-28436-6Published: 15 April 2023
Series ISSN: 2191-5407
Series E-ISSN: 2191-5415
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 81
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 8 illustrations in colour
Topics: Measurement Science and Instrumentation, History of Chemistry, History of Science