History
The metric system was first implemented during the French Revolution (1790s) with just the metre and kilogram as standards. In the 1860s British scientists, working through the British Association for the Advancement of Science laid the foundations for a coherent system based on length, mass and time, but the inclusion of electrical units into the system was hampered until 1900 when Giorgi identified the need to define an electrical quantity alongside the original three quantities. Meanwhile, in 1875, the Treaty of the Metre passed custodianship of the prototype kilogram and metre from French to international control. In 1921 the Treaty was extended to include all physics measurements and in 1948 an overhaul of the metric system was set in motion which resulted in the publication of the International System of Units in 1960.
Read more about this topic: International System Of Units
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“And now this is the way in which the history of your former life has reached my ears! As he said this he held out in his hand the fatal letter.”
—Anthony Trollope (18151882)
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (18971962)
“The history of a soldiers wound beguiles the pain of it.”
—Laurence Sterne (17131768)