Historical metrology

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The Historical Metrology (from the Greek .: μέτρον métron " measure , - razor ") is an Auxiliary Historical Science , dedicated to the history of weights and dedicated.

The research concentrates in particular on those systems of measure and weight that were legally valid before the decimal system of measurements introduced on August 1, 1793 in the course of the French Revolution .

Historical metrology as part of the range of historical auxiliary sciences was created in the 19th century, but its origins are older. During the Renaissance, Georgius Agricola (1494–1555) with his writing “De Mensuris et ponderibus” from 1533 stood out. In this he describes the Greek systems of measurement and the Roman system. Since the end of the 19th century there have been numerous - partly also pseudo-scientific  - publications on this very branch of research.

Since its founding in the 1970s, the Comité International pour la Métrologie Historique (German: "International Committee for Historical Metrology") has been involved in the organization and promotion of research into weighing and measuring in history.

Well-known representatives of historical metrology since the second half of the 20th century include Harald Witthöft , Florian Huber, Rolf CA Rottländer and Jean-Claude Hocquet . Dieter Lelgemann and Eberhard Knobloch also made notable contributions .

literature

  • Harald Witthöft (Hrsg.): The historical metrology in the sciences ... With an appendix to the material tradition of measures and weights in archives and museums of the Federal Republic of Germany . St. Katharinen 1986, ISBN 3-922661-28-9 .
  • Harald Witthöft: Handbook of historical metrology . St. Katharinen in volumes from 1991 (the first volume contains a bibliography on German-language literature, expanded to include selected works on the historical metrology of European and non-European countries).

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