The International System Of Units (Si Units) 1

Abstract

Abstract As modern science came into being, it depended more and more upon the accurate measurement of physical quantities. Such measurement requires a system of standards that is recognized and accepted by all those who would communicate their measurements to each other. In response to this need, the metric system of measurement was devised during the French Revolution (1789 to 1799). It was an attempt to devise a decimal system of measures that would simplify and unify calculations. Nearly a century later, recognizing the need to further improve the system, the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) was set up by the Convention du Metre signed in Paris in 1875 by seventeen States; the Convention was amended in 1921. The task of the BIPM is to ensure worldwide unification of physical measurements. It operates in offices and laboratories in Sevres, near Paris, France, under supervision of the Comite International des Poids et Mesures (CIPM), which consists of 18 members, each from a different State. The CIPM itself comes under the authority of the Conference Generate des Poids et Mesures (CGPM), which consists of delegates from all the Member States (46 States in March, 1991) of the Convention du Metre. The CGPM meets at present every four years, but the CIPM meets every year.