How Was the Metre Originally Defined?

Science · Published

How Was the Metre Originally Defined? · 1:23 · Intellect Plus

In short: How revolutionary France tried to take the metre from the shape of the Earth, why a platinum bar became the working standard instead, and how fixed constants of nature define units today.

A 1:23 short film in the series “From Fingers to Qubits”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.

Sources used in this film: Smithsonian Institution (National Museum of American History), “The Origin of the Metric System”; National Geographic, “The French Revolution not only toppled a king—it also forged the metric system”; UNESCO Memory of the World Register (nomination by the Centre historique des Archives nationales, France), “MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER”; Founders Online, U.S. National Archives (Thomas Jefferson Papers), “Founders Online: Enclosure: Report to the Academy of Sciences on a Unit of Meas …”; French Metrology (french-metrology.com), archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, 25 April 2011, “History of measurement – from metre to International System of Units (SI)”; FranceArchives (Portail national des Archives); text by Suzanne Débarbat, astronomer at the Observatoire de Paris, from Recueil des Commémorations 1999, “Fixation de la longueur définitive du mètre”; University of Chicago Press, Isis (History of Science Society): Charles C. Gillispie, "The Distorted Meridian", Isis vol. 98 no. 4, December 2007, “The Distorted Meridian”; Springer, GEM - International Journal on Geomathematics (article by Jukka Nyblom, published 25 April 2023, open access), “How did the meter acquire its definitive length?”; The Guardian, “How the metre fell martyr to short measure”; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Museum & Archives, U.S. Department of Commerce, “Defining the International System of Units (SI)”; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Precision Engineering Division, Manufacturing Engineering Lab (author: William B. Penzes), “Time Line for the Definition of the Meter”; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Physical Measurement Laboratory: Special Publication 330, the US edition of the International System of Units (SI) text, “SP 330 - Section 2”; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, “Meter”.

Sources used in this film

Opens the Intellect+ feed with this card first. Swipe up for the next one.

Sources

To cite this card, link to https://intellectplus.co.uk/app/how-was-the-metre-originally-defined.

How we source, check and correct cards: Editorial standards.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

More in Science · Latest · A–Z · All topics

Finding something worth knowing…