In the process of its development, mankind has constantly improved its methods of understanding the world. And from the earliest times, people have been engaged in measuring and calculating various qualitative quantities. And the more complex and accurate the measurements became, the more measuring instruments were needed. And along with measuring instruments, the concept of “scale” appeared. This is a sign system that displays the value on the device according to the measurement. However, first things first.
Measurement History
At the moment, the most ancient measuring device known to scientists is the balance found in Mesopotamia. Their age, according to rough estimates, is about seven thousand years. Their design was a cup on the crossbar - and, of course, there was no measuring scale on them. However, these scales were the first timid attempt of mankind to measure and cognize the surrounding world. What is surprising is that scales of a similar design were used up to the 21st century, so they turned out to be convenient and logical.
The appearance of the first scale of the device
About two thousand years BC, the use of a sundial began in ancient Egypt. The shadow cast by the obelisk moved along the earth depending on the position of the Sun and indicated the drawn dial. Of course, there was no need to talk about the accuracy of such watches. Thus, the first measuring scale is the dial of a sundial.
By the way, the ancient Egyptians were the first to divide the dial into two equal twelve-hour segments. And the idea of dividing the hour by sixty minutes, and the minutes by sixty seconds belongs to the Sumerians - and we use the same system to this day. And the first mechanical watch, according to legend, was created only in the X century of our era by a monk, who later became the Pope.
Other dimensions in the ancient world
The main problem of measurements in the ancient world was the inaccuracy of the division prices of instrument scales or their absence at all. So, for example, when measuring distances in ancient Rome, fingers, elbows and thousands of steps were used. It is clear that, depending on the person, the measurement results were completely different. A similar situation with the extreme inaccuracy of these instrument scales was widespread almost everywhere.
In the Middle Ages, more precise measures of measurement appeared, but they varied from state to state. Because of this, numerous problems arose in both the export and import of goods, it was not clear which measurement system to take as a standard, and this problem had to be solved. However, perhaps this only became with the development of communication methods, such as radio waves, and therefore, the issue of solution was very long.
Introduction of the metric system
The first advances towards the introduction of a unified measurement system occurred in France, where after long and unsuccessful negotiations with other countries, it was decided to introduce a unified and, most important, decimal, system of measures on their own. In one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the French system of measures was formed, and four years later, at the legislative level, became unified in the country. After almost half a century, the German government adopts a metric system in its own country and in the nineteenth century this system becomes one of the most popular in Europe.
In Russia, it was accepted only in the twentieth century, and that, by an optional decree, preserving its old physical quantities. The final adoption by the whole world of a unified measurement system (SI) took place only after the Second World War and at the moment only the United States of America, Liberia and Myanmar use their own calculation systems. Nevertheless, the scientific world has completely and completely switched to the SI system.
Temperature measurement
From the general list of a single measurement system, degrees are knocked out a little. The fact is that the most convenient and widespread Celsius scale was invented back in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-fourth, fifty years before the introduction of the metric system in France. It was invented by the Swedish astronomer Anders, whose surname is Celsius. He proposed the most convenient and logical temperature measurement - he took the moment of turning water into ice as a reference point, and took its boiling temperature as 100 degrees.
Thus, one degree in his measurement system became one hundredth of the way between the ice point and the boiling point of water. Since the metric system was also based on the decimal system, the Celsius scale found its place in it, as one of the derived units. Derivatives - because the main measurement quantity is still Kelvin. It happened because Kelvin suggested that absolute zero be considered as zero degrees — the temperature below which it simply cannot be — the minimum temperature available to the body in the Universe.
In Celsius, the absolute zero indicator is -273 degrees, and this is not so convenient for scientists. Nevertheless, degrees Celsius are much better for measuring degrees of the human body and determining air temperature.
Modern change
More recently, in 2018, quite important changes were made in the SI system. Many quantities were untied from physical materials - for example, the kilogram standard is calculated not using a physical alloy, but according to Planck's constant. In the same way, back in the 20th century, the meter was untied from a bar of iron lying in Paris and became an intangible quantity, which is calculated based on the speed of light in a vacuum.
Of course, this did not affect the price of dividing the scales of devices either, and now, but for the scientific world it was an extremely important change that avoided the slightest inaccuracies arising from the use of physical objects as standards. The same fate befell the degrees of Kelvin and moths - they are all untied from the real world and exist as intangible quantities.
Instrument Scales
In order to show the results of measurements, special symbols are applied to most devices. Scale - signs that display the result of physical measurements. Depending on the type of device, it can be of various types. Since the SI system is used in most countries, the scale divisions of the instrument scale are most often displayed in the metric system.
The simplest example is construction tape. The segments plotted on it are the roulette scale. Most of the roulettes that can be found in Russia use the centimeter scale, however, if you look, you can also find roulettes with an inch scale, because inches are still used in the United States of America.
Conclusion and Conclusions
Now you know that this is the scale and the price of division. It remains only to add that measurements have been carried out by mankind since the earliest times and only in the last centuries they began to be regulated at the international level. Thus, at present, people have come to an agreement on the quantities used in the measurements - and this allows scientists from all over the world to use the same values, simplifying work with foreign sources.
Millennia have passed from measuring distances with fingers to centimeters, but this was necessary for people. Recently, large-scale changes in the SI system have been carried out, an increasingly large part of which is untied from physical instruments, such as a kilogram alloy and converted into intangible physical quantities. And the current changes are only part of a larger path that has yet to be overcome.