Defining and Measuring Nature (Second Edition) The Make of All Things

• Main Author: Williams, Jeffrey H
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol Institute of Physics Publishing 2020
• Edition: 2

In this significantly updated and extended edition of his popular book, Jeffrey Huw Williams outlines the history of the science of measurement, the origin of the world's measurement system - the Metric System - and the recent redefinition based on fundamental quantum properties.

Table of Contents:

• 13.2.2 Oil-drop experiment -- 13.2.3 Shot noise -- 13.2.4 The Josephson and von Klitzing constants -- 13.3 The problem of the permeability of space in the new SI -- 13.4 Determination of the Planck constant -- 13.4.1 Josephson constant -- 13.4.2 Kibble balance -- 13.5 Measurement of NA by x-ray diffraction -- Further reading -- Chapter 14 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
• 8.1 Even scientists cannot always agree on units -- Further reading -- Chapter 9 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 measures -- Further reading -- Chapter 10 The birth of the Quantum-SI -- 10.1 The need for change -- 10.2 The problem that was the kilogram -- 10.2.1 The 'smoking gun' -- 10.3 The background to the redefinition -- Further reading -- Chapter 11 The base units of the Système 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) -- 11.3.1 The Kibble balance -- 11.4 The base unit of thermodynamic temperature is the kelvin (K) -- 11.4.1 The Boltzmann constant -- 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) -- Further reading -- Chapter 12 The base units of the Système International des Unites (II) -- 12.1 The base unit of time is the second (s) -- 12.1.1 Atomic time -- 12.1.2 High-resolution atomic spectroscopy and time metrology -- 12.1.3 The width of an observed absorption -- 12.1.4 Hydrogen maser -- 12.1.5 Caesium beam oscillator -- 12.1.6 Caesium fountain oscillator -- 12.2 The future of frequency standards -- 12.3 The mechanism of an optical clock -- 12.3.1 Femtosecond comb -- 12.3.2 Optical clocks -- 12.4 Secondary representations of the second -- 12.5 Possible applications of optical clocks -- Further reading -- Chapter 13 The new Système international des unites -- 13.1 Some further details of the Quantum-SI -- 13.2 Experimental measurements of the elementary charge, e -- 13.2.1 In terms of the Avogadro constant and Faraday constant
• Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Author biography -- Jeffrey Huw Williams -- Further reading -- Chapter 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 Empire -- Further reading -- Chapter 2 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 …' -- Further reading -- Chapter 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 Révolution Française -- 3.5 Defining the size of the world -- 3.6 The metric survey -- 3.7 The error in all things -- Further reading -- Chapter 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 System -- Further reading -- Chapter 5 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 quantity -- Further reading -- Chapter 6 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 electromagnetism -- Further reading -- Chapter 7 Measurement in the age of scientific certainty -- 7.1 The Convention du mètre -- 7.2 Conférence générale des poids et mesures (CGPM) -- 7.3 Comité international des poids et mesures (CIPM) -- 7.4 Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM) -- Further reading -- Chapter 8 A true universal language: the SI