The challenge of measurement science [President's Perspectives]

It seems to me that many people do not appreciate the challenge and necessity for measurement and instrumentation. Certainly the general public does not know what is important in completing and sustaining measurements or why it is important to do so. Even scientists and engineers seem to be hazy as to issues surrounding measurement and instrumentation. A recent white paper by Derek MacLachlan opens with this comment, "Accurate measurements are central to virtually every scientific and engineering discipline, but all too often measurement science gets little attention in the undergraduate curriculum [at least this is true in the United States]. Even those who received a thorough grounding in measurement fundamentals as undergraduates . . . [have] forgotten some of the details." ("Getting Back to the Basics of Electrical Measurements," by Derek MacLachlan, Staff Applications Engineer, Keithley Instruments, Inc.).