| Issue |
Int. J. Metrol. Qual. Eng.
Volume 10, 2019
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 5 | |
| Number of page(s) | 8 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/ijmqe/2019005 | |
| Published online | 30 April 2019 | |
Review
A brief history of metrology: past, present, and future
1
Electricity & Magnetism, LNE, Paris, France
2
ECAM-EPMI, Cergy-Pontoise, France
* Corresponding author: jean-pierre.fanton@wanadoo.fr
Received:
10
November
2018
Accepted:
3
April
2019
In this paper, we take the freedom to paraphrase Stephen Hawking's well-known formula and approach, for a reflection about metrology. In fact, metrology has a past, a present, and a future. The past is marked by a rich series of events, of which we shall highlight only those which resulted in major turns. The impact of the French Revolution is indisputably one of them. The present corresponds to a significant evolution, which is the entry of metrology into the world of quantum physics, with the relevant changes in the International System of units (SI). An apercu of the actual state of the art of metrological technology is given. The future is characterised by a persisting need for a still enhanced metrology, in terms of performance and domain covered. In this respect, soft metrology seems to constitute a promising field for research and development.
Key words: Metrology history / unit system / metrology institutions / accuracy / uncertainty / performance / soft metrology
© J.-P. Fanton, published by EDP Sciences, 2019
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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