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Some human-referenced units of measurement
Some human-referenced units of measurement

Units of measurement were among the earliest tools invented by humans. Primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for many tasks: constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials. Clothing (also called clothes, accoutrements, accouterments, or habiliments) protects the Human body from extreme Weather Barter is a type of Trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged A raw material is something that is acted upon or used by Organisms, or by human labour or Industry, for use as a Building material to create some product

Contents

Earliest known systems

The earliest known uniform systems of weights and measures seem all to have been created at some time in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC among the ancient peoples of Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, and perhaps also Elam (in Iran) as well. The 4th millennium BC saw major changes in human culture It marks the beginning of the Bronze Age and of Writing. The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. It represents a period of time in which Imperialism, or the desire to conquer grew to prominence This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd Elam is the name of an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The most astounding of these ancient systems was perhaps that of the Indus Valley Civilization (ca. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin 2600 BC). The Indus Valley peoples achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time. Their measurements were extremely precise since their smallest division, which is marked on an ivory scale found in Lothal, was approximately 1. Lothal ( Gujarātī: લોથલ ˈloːtʰəl Eng Mound of the Dead was one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization. 704 mm, the smallest division ever recorded on a scale of the Bronze Age. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for The decimal system was used. The decimal ( base ten or occasionally denary) Numeral system has ten as its base. Harappan engineers followed the decimal division of measurement for all practical purposes, including the measurement of mass as revealed by their hexahedron weights. Harappa ( Urdu:, Hindi: हड़प्पा) is a City in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about 35km (22 miles southwest Weights were based on units of 0. 05, 0. 1, 0. 2, 0. 5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500, with each unit weighing approximately 28 grams, similar to the English ounce or Roman uncia, and smaller objects were weighed in similar ratios with the units of 0. English unit is the American name for a unit in one of a number of systems of Units of measurement, some obsolete and some still in use in present-day USA, the 871.

Other systems were based on the use of parts of the body and the natural surroundings as measuring instruments. Early Babylonian and Egyptian records and the Bible indicate that length was first measured with the forearm, hand, or finger and that time was measured by the periods of the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history as a unified state of any country in the world Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin When it was necessary to compare the capacities of containers such as gourds or clay or metal vessels, they were filled with plant seeds which were then counted to measure the volumes. This article refers to the Dried fruit shell For the alternative country musical group of a similar name see The Gourds. Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained Minerals which show plasticity through a variable range of Water content, and The volume of any solid plasma vacuum or theoretical object is how much three- Dimensional space it occupies often quantified numerically When means for weighing were invented, seeds and stones served as standards. For instance, the carat, still used as a unit for gems, was derived from the carob seed. The carat is a unit of Mass used for measuring gems and Pearls Currently a carat is defined as exactly 200  mg (0 The Carob tree (from Arabic: خروب "kharūb" and Hebrew: חרוב Charuv) Ceratonia siliqua, is a Leguminous

Present knowledge

Our present knowledge of early weights and measures comes from many sources. Archaeologists have recovered some rather early standards and preserved them in museums. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos The comparison of the dimensions of buildings with the descriptions of contemporary writers is another source of information. An interesting example of this is the comparison of the dimensions of the Greek Parthenon with the description given by Plutarch from which a fairly accurate idea of the size of the Attic foot is obtained. The Parthenon ( Ancient Greek:) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c In some cases, we have only plausible theories and we must sometimes select the interpretation to be given to the evidence.

By studying the evidence given by all available sources, and by correlating the relevant facts, we obtain some idea of the origin and development of the units. We find that they have changed more or less gradually with the passing of time in a complex manner because of a great variety of modifying influences. We find the units modified and grouped into measurement systems: the Babylonian system, the Egyptian system, the Phileterian system of the Ptolemaic age, the Olympic system of Greece, the Roman system, and the British system, to mention only a few. The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family English unit is the American name for a unit in one of a number of systems of Units of measurement, some obsolete and some still in use in present-day USA, the

History of units

Units of length

The Egyptian Cubit, Indus Valley units of length referred to above and the Mesopotamian cubit were used in the 3rd millennium BC and are the earliest known units used by ancient peoples to measure length. For the multi-touch interface see CUBIT (multi-touch. For the unit of information see Qubit. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd For the multi-touch interface see CUBIT (multi-touch. For the unit of information see Qubit. The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. It represents a period of time in which Imperialism, or the desire to conquer grew to prominence The measures of length used in ancient India included the dhanus (bow), the krosa (cry, or cow-call) and the jojana (stage).

There were several cubits of different magnitudes that were used. The common cubit was the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was divided into the span of the hand (one-half cubit), the palm or width of the hand (one sixth), and the digit or width of the middle finger (one twenty-fourth)and the span or the length between the tip little finger to the tip of the thumb. The Royal or Sacred Cubit, which was 7 palms or 28 digits long, was used in constructing buildings and monuments and in surveying. The inch, foot, and yard evolved from these units through a complicated transformation not yet fully understood. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A yard (abbreviation yd) is a unit of Length in several different systems including English units Imperial units and United Some believe they evolved from cubic measures; others believe they were simple proportions or multiples of the cubit. In any case, the Greeks and Romans inherited the foot from the Egyptians. The Roman foot (~296 mm) was divided into both 12 unciae (inches)(~24. 7 mm) and 16 digits (~18. 5 mm). The Romans also introduced the unit mille passus (1000 paces) or double steps, the pace being equal to five Roman feet (~1480 mm). The Roman mile of 5000 feet (1480 m) was introduced into England during the occupation. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Queen Elizabeth I (reigned from 1558 to 1603) changed, by statute, the mile to 5280 feet (~1609 m) or 8 furlongs, a furlong being 40 rods (~201 m) of 5. A furlong is a measure of Distance in Imperial units and US customary units. The rod is a unit of Length equal to 55 Yards 11 Cubits 50292 Meters 16 5 yards (~5. 03 m)each.

The introduction of the yard (0. 9144 m) as a unit of length came later, but its origin is not definitely known. Some believe the origin was the double cubit, others believe that it originated from cubic measure. Whatever its origin, the early yard was divided by the binary method into 2, 4, 8, and 16 parts called the half-yard, span, finger, and nail. The association of the yard with the "gird" or circumference of a person's waist or with the distance from the tip of the nose to the end of the thumb of King Henry I (reigned 1100 - 1135) are probably standardizing actions, since several yards were in use in Britain. Henry I (c 1068/1069 – 1 December 1135) was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror, the first King of England after the Norman

Typographical units

The point, which is a unit for measuring print type, is recent. In Typography, a point is the smallest unit of measure being a subdivision of the larger pica. It originated with Pierre Simon Fournier in 1737. Pierre Simon Fournier ( September 15[[ 712]] – October 8[[ 768]] was a French mid-eighteenth century punch-cutter, typefounder and It was modified and developed by the Didot brothers, Francois Ambroise and Pierre Francois, in 1755. The point was first used in the United States in 1878 by a Chicago type foundry (Marder, Luse, and Company). Since 1886, a point has been exactly 0. 3514598 millimeters, or 1/72. 27 inch.

The pica in any of several related systems measures 12 points. This page is for the unit of measure For the eating disorder see Pica (disorder.

Units of mass

The grain was the earliest unit of mass and is the smallest unit in the apothecary, avoirdupois, Tower, and troy systems. The avoirdupois (ˌævərdəˈpɔɪz French avwaʀdypwɑ system is a system of weights (or properly Mass) based on a pound of sixteen Ounces Troy weight is a system of units of Mass customarily used for Precious metals Black powder, and Gemstones Named after Troyes The early unit was a grain of wheat or barleycorn used to weigh the precious metals silver and gold. Larger units preserved in stone standards were developed that were used as both units of mass and of monetary currency. The pound was derived from the mina used by ancient civilizations. The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass A smaller unit was the shekel, and a larger unit was the talent. The talent ( Latin: talentum, from Ancient Greek: "scale balance" is an ancient unit of Mass. The magnitude of these units varied from place to place. The Babylonians and Sumerians had a system in which there were 60 shekels in a mina and 60 minas in a talent. The Roman talent consisted of 100 libra (pound) which were smaller in magnitude than the mina. The troy pound (~373. 2 g) used in England and the United States for monetary purposes, like the Roman pound, was divided into 12 ounces, but the Roman uncia (ounce) was smaller. The carat is a unit for measuring gemstones that had its origin in the carob seed, which later was standardized at 1/144 ounce and then 0. 2 gram.

Goods of commerce were originally traded by number or volume. When weighing of goods began, units of mass based on a volume of grain or water were developed. For example, the talent in some places was approximately equal to the mass of one cubic foot of water. Was this a coincidence or by design? The diverse magnitudes of units having the same name, which still appear today in our dry and liquid measures, could have arisen from the various commodities traded. The larger avoirdupois pound for goods of commerce might have been based on volume of water which has a higher bulk density than grain. Bulk density is a property of powders granules and other "divided" solids especially used in reference to Soil. For example, the Egyptian hon was a volume unit about 11 per cent larger than a cubic palm and corresponded to one mina of water. It was almost identical in volume to the present U. S. pint (~473 mL).

The stone, quarter, hundredweight, and ton were larger units of mass used in Britain. Today only the stone continues in customary use for measuring personal body weight. The present stone is 14 pounds (~6. 35 kg), but an earlier unit appears to have been 16 pounds (~7. 25 kg). The other units were multiples of 2, 8, and 160 times the stone, or 28, 112, and 2240 pounds (~12. 7 kg, 50. 8 kg, 1016 kg), respectively. The hundredweight was approximately equal to two talents. The ton of 2240 pounds is called the "long ton". The "short ton" is equal to 2000 pounds (~907 kg). A tonne (t) is equal to 1000 kg.

Units of time and angle

Hindu units of time on a logarithmic scale.
Hindu units of time on a logarithmic scale. Definition and base Logarithmic scales are either defined for ratios of the underlying quantity or one has to agree to measure

We can trace the division of the circle into 360 degrees and the day into hours, minutes, and seconds to the Babylonians who had sexagesimal system of numbers. Sexagesimal ( base-sixty) is a Numeral system with sixty as the base. The 360 degrees may have been related to a year of 360 days. Many other systems of measurement divided the day differently; other calendars divided the year differently. A system of measurment is a set of units which can be used to specify anything which can be measured and were historically important regulated and defined because of Trade and The word Calendar consist of two words 1 Cal ( in Pashto means Year in Hindi and Persian is Sal- also means Year


See also

References

Sources

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