The pillars of metrology

The more I study metrology, the more I get persuaded that the measuring activity is an implicit part of our lives, something we are not really aware of, though we do or rely on measurements several times a day. When we check time, put fuel in our cars, buy food, just to mention some everyday activity, either we measure something or we trust measurements done by somebody else. It is quite immediate to conclude that, nowadays, everything is measured and measurement results are the basis of many important decisions. Interestingly enough, measurement has always played an important role in mankind's evolution and I fully agree with Bryan Kibble's statement that the measuring stick came before the wheel, otherwise the wheel could not have been built [1]. The measuring stick is also one of the most ancient instruments, and we find it together with time measuring instruments and weighs in almost every civilization of the past, proving that measurement is one of the most important branches of science, and there is no civilization without measurement. It proves also the intimate connection existing between instrumentation and measurement, being the two sides of a single medal: the measurement science, or metrology.