Modern Measurements: Fundamentals and Applications

There are several books related to instrumentation and measurement that explain how measurement methods work and how instruments can be designed, selected, and used to implement the different measurement methods needed to obtain the desired measurement result with the desired accuracy. But no books are available, to our knowledge, that explain what “measuring” means and which essential activities must be performed to accomplish a measurement. This is somehow surprising, because measurement has always been an important, and sometimes critical, activity that has developed with the humankind, becoming a significant part of its culture. Today everything is measured, and we are surrounded by instruments, often without being aware of their silent presence. Despite this pervasive presence of every kind of instruments and the many kinds of measurements we perform in our everyday life, measurement is probably the only relevant technical activity that is rarely grounded on a well-defined and widely known models. It is rather considered as a mere tool, not as an independent branch of science and technique, so that it is often confined to the role of appendix, sometimes not so relevant, of other subjects. This book is aimed at filling this gap, and providing a unique framework, valid for any kind of measurement. So, do not expect too many technical details on how a specific instrument works, or a specific measurement method can be implemented. Many excellent books already cover these topics. Here you will find those fundamental bricks that are present in every modern instrument and are part of every modern measurement activity. You will also discover the importance of some “hidden” bricks, such as the primary standards, without which no universally recognized measurement would be possible.