Through measurement to knowledge: The inaugural lecture of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1882)
- 1 May 2002
- journal article
- Published by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Vol. 107 (3) , 261-77
- https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.107.021
Abstract
This paper is a contribution to the NIST Centennial 2001. It presents the first complete English translation of the inaugural speech of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on the occasion of his appointment as Professor at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) in 1882. The speech is a snapshot of the scientific landscape of that time and lays out a vision. It advocates with enthusiasm the significance of quantitative measurements and the development of metrology standards. Although science and technology have advanced since then by orders of magnitude, a number of interesting parallels between then and now appear.Keywords
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