The History of Measurement

1
The History of Measurement
2
Some Background

• Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and
  Babylonians used body parts as references for
  measurement.
• Although the units were not exactly the same for
  each person, they worked in a time when
  measurement was not for mass-produced products.

3
The Cubit

• The cubit was the first measurement to be
  universalized. It was developed by the
  Egyptians in 3000 B.C. and measured as the
  distance from the elbow to fingertip.
• The cubit was the first unit to be standardized
  by the creation of a standard royal cubit. It
  was preserved in the form of a black granite rod
  against which everyone could standardize their
  own measuring rod.
• Instead of dividing the cubit into smaller units,
  people instead used other body parts for smaller
  measures.

4
Common Historical Units with Origins of
Babylonian, Egyptian, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and
Norman-French

• Digit The breadth of a finger (Egyptian)
• Inch The width of a mans thumb
• Foot The length of a mans foot
• Span The length of an outstretched hand from
  pinkie to thumb
• Hand Half of a span
• Cubit Elbow to fingertip (Egyptian)
• Yard Nose to fingertip
• Fathom Two yards, length of outstretched arms
  (Danish)
• Furlong 220 yards (Anglo-Saxon)

5
Measurement Development

• The Greeks used many of the same units as the
  Babylonians and Egyptians because it made trade
  fair.
• The Romans then adapted the Greek system but did
  not use the cubit, using the foot as the basis
  instead.

6
Standardizing the Foot

• The Romans used the number 12 as a base for the
  foot, possibly made official during the reign of
  Henry I (1100-1135).
• It was divided into 12 uniciae, Latin for inch
  and ounce, meaning a twelfth part.
• Dividing the foot into 12 inches provided more
  opportunities to divide the whole fairly instead
  of dividing it into ten sections.
• Instead of ½, 1/5, and 1/10, the foot could be
  divided into ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/6, and 1/12 for trading
  purposes.
• Longer measurements were done using a pace, equal
  to five feet.

7
Standardizing Continued

• King Henry I (13th century) stated that the foot
  would be one-third the length of the yard, and
  the inch should be one thirty-sixth.
• King Edward I standardized the yard by making a
  permanent measuring stick made of iron. He
  called it the iron ulna, named after the bone
  of the forearm.
• Definitions lasted for almost 600 years.
• Queen Elizabeth I changed the Roman mile (5,000
  feet 1,000 paces) to 8 furlongs (5,280 feet).
• These standards were then established in the
  American Colonies.
• 1793 French government adopted the Metric
  System.

8
Interesting Facts(?)

• The word for inch is also the name for thumb in
  many countries.
• The Saxons measured a yard by a sash around their
  waist. The Saxon word gird meant circumference
  of a persons waist.
• A pendulum may have been used to standardize the
  yard. A pendulum that is one yard long makes a
  complete swing in exactly one second.

9
More Interesting Facts(?)

• Beans and seeds were used to measure weights. A
  small bean called a karob was used by Arabs to
  weight valuables such as gold, silver, and jewels
  still used today as a carat.
• The height of horses is still sometimes measured
  using hands.
• Anglo-Saxons measured the inch (ynce) as the
  length of 3 barleycorns.
• The word acre also meant field in Saxon and
  was a unit to describe the size of a field that a
  farmer could plow in a single day. The French
  word for acre means day and the German word
  means morning or days work.

10
Bibliography

• OConnor, J.J. and Robertson, E.F. The History
  of Measurement. www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/
  history/PrintHT/Measurement.html
• Rowlett, Russ. English Customary Weights and
  Measures. University of North Carolina at Chapel
  Hill. www.unc.edu/rowlett/units/custom.html
• A Brief History of Measurement Systems.
  www.slcc.edu/schools/hum_sci/physics/tutor/2210/me
  asurements/history.html
• A History of Measurements and Metrics.
  www.cftech.com/BrainBank/OTHERREFERENCE/WEIGHTSand
  MEASURES/MetricHistory.html