Introduction: A Brief History of Measurement
The genesis of measurement is part of the natural human drive to compare, for
example, the duration of a process, the distance traveled, the temperature or the
taste of food. Comparing always encompasses referring to a standard. Claiming that
a distance traveled was longer or shorter has a reference to some commonly used
distance, in relation to which our pathway took more or less time. Therefore, each
community has had to work out a system of standards, which were set up as a
commonly accepted reference.
The great meaning of measurements is supported by numerous records in civil
and religious documents relating to the functioning of society; for example, in the
Code of Hammurabi, in the Bible or in the Koran. In the Bible, there are many
warnings against the sin of giving short measure. The first available data of Polish
surveyors can be found in the Bull of Gniezno from the year 1136. Surveyors were
engaged to determine the borders of settlement fields, using a rope and a pole as
measuring devices. Units of measurement were often created on the basis of items
used in practice, hence the ancient length units of rope and pole. Historians recall
many practical ways of conducting measurements, since human invention in creating convenient units of measurement from everyday life was unlimited (Fig. 1).
Measurements were often based on the observation of nature; for example, the day
was the time period between the sunrise and sunset. Ancient prayers were often
used as a unit of time—for counting time sufficient to, say, the prayer Ave Maria.
When a prayer was completed at a common rate (e.g., 20 s), this was agreed upon as
a common unit of time. Time was sometimes counted by the period needed for
completing the burning of commonly used candle.
For measuring length, units referred to the human body: the foot (the length of a
foot), span (related to the human hand—the span between spread fingers), elbow
(the length of the forearm) or inch (the thickness of the thumb) were introduced. It
is, therefore, obvious that the size of the unit depended on the person whose body
part served as a reference. A comparison of length was therefore only possible when
both interested parties referred to the foot length of the same person, i.e. a common
standard. What about the unit of a stone’s throw? Questions immediately arise: who
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The genesis of measurement is part of the natural human drive to compare, for
example, the duration of a process, the distance traveled, the temperature or the
taste of food. Comparing always encompasses referring to a standard. Claiming that
a distance traveled was longer or shorter has a reference to some commonly used
distance, in relation to which our pathway took more or less time. Therefore, each
community has had to work out a system of standards, which were set up as a
commonly accepted reference.
The great meaning of measurements is supported by numerous records in civil
and religious documents relating to the functioning of society; for example, in the
Code of Hammurabi, in the Bible or in the Koran. In the Bible, there are many
warnings against the sin of giving short measure. The first available data of Polish
surveyors can be found in the Bull of Gniezno from the year 1136. Surveyors were
engaged to determine the borders of settlement fields, using a rope and a pole as
measuring devices. Units of measurement were often created on the basis of items
used in practice, hence the ancient length units of rope and pole. Historians recall
many practical ways of conducting measurements, since human invention in creating convenient units of measurement from everyday life was unlimited (Fig. 1).
Measurements were often based on the observation of nature; for example, the day
was the time period between the sunrise and sunset. Ancient prayers were often
used as a unit of time—for counting time sufficient to, say, the prayer Ave Maria.
When a prayer was completed at a common rate (e.g., 20 s), this was agreed upon as
a common unit of time. Time was sometimes counted by the period needed for
completing the burning of commonly used candle.
For measuring length, units referred to the human body: the foot (the length of a
foot), span (related to the human hand—the span between spread fingers), elbow
(the length of the forearm) or inch (the thickness of the thumb) were introduced. It
is, therefore, obvious that the size of the unit depended on the person whose body
part served as a reference. A comparison of length was therefore only possible when
both interested parties referred to the foot length of the same person, i.e. a common
standard. What about the unit of a stone’s throw? Questions immediately arise: who
xv