Happy World Metrology Day to us all !

20 May 2005

Did you remember (or even know) that May 20th had been declared World Metrology Day? The dedication was made at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in 2000 to commemorate the signing of the Metre Convention on that day in 1875. This Treaty aimed to provide a formal basis for international agreement on units of measurement based on the metric system.

It seems, though, that the great day is set to pass with little notice being taken by the majority of the population who, the governors of the measurement world assert, should be celebrating the good work done by you and your peers. But from evidence garnered by trawling the world-wide web during the past week, scant attention is being given to the matter even by the national metrology institutes (NMIs).

The voluntary NCSLI actually has quite a nice article written by the BIPM director:

• Global Confidence through SI Traceability

which highlights the significance of "good measurement" to modern life. The same text also appears (spread over several unlinked pages) on the BIPM's own website. From the NMIs themselves only the CSIR seem to be trying to generate public interest:

• How does South Africa measure up?

So it's unlikely that you'll find your neighbors dancing in the street today but no matter...... you and we know in our hearts what a great job everyone in the measurement business is doing, not just today but EVERY day. They couldn't do without us so here's to World Metrology Day -- cheers!!