Accuracy of Electrical Metering: Thesis (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Accuracy of Electrical Metering

Before great progress is possible in any science and before its practical application becomes a possibility, it is necessary to deal with it not only in a qualitative but in a quantitative way. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the foundation of all science lies in the yard stick. To be sure, a great deal may be learned of the nature of forces acting about me by the mere observation of recurring phenomena, and indeed from the qualitative study of these may be deduced very important general principles and laws: but before any number of such observations can be built up in logical order and made to support one another it becomes im perative to determine the magnitude of the quantities involv ed. In other words, in order that a science may be built up and progress, units of measurement must be extablished, and means for their enumeration devised.