Failures of the global measurement system. Part 2: institutions, instruments and strategy

Abstract

Between 1998 and 2007, the governing body of the Treaty of the Metre conducted three strategic reviews of future global measurement needs. This critical review examines those reports with a view to determine whether or not this institution is capable of resolving the impasse, discussed in Part 1, that has existed for many decades in the manner of communicating the results of chemical measurements. Examining both the main substantial recommendation and the explicitly stated common presuppositions of the three reports leads to the regretful conclusion that the institution can neither resolve the impasse nor meet significant future global measurement needs. Therefore, the onus is on chemistry itself to consider carefully the units with which the results of chemical measurements may be communicated clearly and concisely to their users without the semantic confusions inherent in the International System (SI) of measurement units discussed in Part 1. At the larger level, the institutional failure of the Treaty to fully grasp the dynamism of 21st century science, technology and industry raises concerns for world trade and global economic coordination.