Historia de las Mediciones 📐 | Breve Recorrido por su Evolución — Transcript

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1. 0:02Well, we're, well, actually she always
2. 0:05helps me, but, well, it doesn't matter.
3. 0:08We're organizing, uh, a class on
4. 0:10measurements. Could you help me out?
5. 0:12No problem. Ask me whatever you want
6. 0:14about measurements.
7. 0:16Uh, I wanted to start with history
8. 0:17because I know that early civilizations
9. 0:19needed to produce measurement systems
10. 0:21to travel, farm, and survive the
11. 0:23climate.
12. 0:24That's right, Mariano. At first, it was
13. 0:26only necessary to make very simple
14. 0:27measurements. Just imagine it. These
15. 0:35measurements accounted for the number
16. 0:37of animals raised, seeds exchanged, oil
17. 0:40needed, days of the full moon, or the
18. 0:42length of winters. So, measurement
19. 0:46systems emerged that weren't very
20. 0:48precise, but they worked. The first
21. 0:51units of length were based on parts of
22. 0:54the human body. The first weight
23. 0:57measurements were set by the use of
24. 0:59certain containers or by what a person
25. 1:01or animal could carry. And the first
26. 1:04attempts to measure time were made
27. 1:06based on the cycles of the Sun and Moon
28. 1:08.
29. 1:10Mariano. Mariano.
30. 1:12Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. As
31. 1:14societies grew, they developed new
32. 1:16technologies and consequently more
33. 1:17precise measurement systems, right?
34. 1:19That's right. Over time, measurement
35. 1:21systems became more complex and refined
36. 1:23. The invention of numbering systems
37. 1:26made the creation of systems of units
38. 1:28of measurement possible.
39. 1:29Of course. Well, and the good thing is
40. 1:31that these units of measurement are
41. 1:33useful almost anywhere in the world,
42. 1:34right?
43. 1:34That's right, almost everywhere in the
44. 1:36world.
45. 1:39And if something measures zero, then it
46. 1:40measures nothing. And speaking of zero,
47. 1:44do you know what one zero said to
48. 1:45another?
49. 1:45I have no idea.
50. 1:47We are nothing. But with a while ago. I
51. 1:52know it's terrible, but you don't have
52. 1:54to take out the system, right? That's
53. 1:56it.
54. 2:01Yes, yes, yes, yes. I have the dinosaur
55. 2:03here. Okay. Well, yes, it's here. Well,
56. 2:07I'll tell him. Kisses. Bye. Bye. It was
57. 2:10a chest. Oh, what does he say?
58. 2:12Fine, he says he's setting up a system
59. 2:13with Saviono to see how to assemble
60. 2:15Pericles.
61. 2:16No, what an exaggeration, it's not
62. 2:17necessary. That's why a friend of his
63. 2:18who is an anthropologist is coming.
64. 2:19Yes, I know, but he told me he wants
65. 2:21you to stop by so you can see how it
66. 2:23works. He wants to test it with you.
67. 2:25Well, it doesn't matter. I'll go, I'll
68. 2:26go later. We can go through the
69. 2:27measurements pavilion ourselves.
70. 2:29Yes. Or we could also look at this book
71. 2:31, what do you think?
72. 2:32Oh, what is it about?
73. 2:34About measurements. Did Jorge mention
74. 2:36anything to you about measuring with
75. 2:37the human body?
76. 2:38Yes, yes, yes, yes, of course, of
77. 2:40course. Uh, the length of a step or a
78. 2:43foot, the width of a finger or a hand,
79. 2:45the length of the forearm, were always
80. 2:47direct references used in those first
81. 2:49attempts at measurement.
82. 2:51I see you know a lot, a
83. 2:52little bit.
84. 2:54Do you want to see a little more about
85. 2:56how it was done in Egypt in the year
86. 2:583000 BC?
87. 2:59Sure, let's see. The cubit was the
88. 3:04distance between the elbow and the
89. 3:06extended fingers of the human arm.
90. 3:08Although it worked, it varied too much
91. 3:10from person to person. So there would
92. 3:12be no doubt, it was agreed that an
93. 3:13official cubit measured the length of a
94. 3:15black granite block. This standard
95. 3:18cubit was 52.4 cm. The subunit of the
96. 3:21cubit was the digit and it fit into it
97. 3:2328 times. From what I could research,
98. 3:27Egypt and China developed efficient
99. 3:29measurement systems that are evident in
100. 3:31their constructions. Yes. However, the
101. 3:34systems used in China were totally
102. 3:36independent of the Mediterranean
103. 3:38European systems. Still, they had
104. 3:40elements in common. If not, look here,
105. 3:43here.
106. 3:45Let's see, let me read now.
107. 3:48In China, they used the distance
108. 3:49between the wrist and the base of the
109. 3:51thumb as a measure. However, they had a
110. 3:54problem. The systems did not have a
111. 3:56relationship between their different
112. 3:57units. A unit with the same name could
113. 4:00be different depending on its use. In
114. 4:03the year 221 BC, Emperor Shi Huangdi
115. 4:06decided to unify the units in his
116. 4:09domains. The unit of weight was the shi
117. 4:14and for lengths, two units were adopted
118. 4:16, the chi and the chang. The system had
119. 4:20a characteristic. The multiples and
120. 4:22submultiples of the units were based on
121. 4:25division by 10, just like the system we
122. 4:27use. Museum. Good afternoon, Mr. Cosme.
123. 4:35Okay, I'm noting it down. Yes, yes,
124. 4:38I'll tell him. See you later.
125. 4:40Again, Mr. Cosme. What did he want?
126. 4:42Oh yes, he's obsessed with the assembly
127. 4:43of Pericles. He wants to do a test
128. 4:45right now.
129. 4:45But he wants it now.
130. 4:47Mm. Yes, he also asked me for you to
131. 4:49finish building the miniature dinosaur
132. 4:50because he wants to test how it works.
133. 4:53What a nightmare. Please, baby. And how
134. 4:55am I going to do this? Well, it doesn't
135. 4:57matter. Better he takes it than he...eh
136. 4:58?
137. 4:58Or better yet, we can head over to the
138. 5:00measurements pavilion now, what do you
139. 5:01think? Sure, let's go.
140. 5:09You don't have to be a genius to
141. 5:10realize we're in the measurements
142. 5:12pavilion. Uh,
143. 5:13wait, how did you realize?
144. 5:15What do you mean, how did I realize?
145. 5:16Look at the the
146. 5:18It's a joke, Mariano.
147. 5:22The history of measurements is a
148. 5:24strange one because the measurement
149. 5:26systems humanity invented emerged in
150. 5:28total isolation.
151. 5:30Yes. However, due to wars, migrations,
152. 5:32and trade, some systems were shaped by
153. 5:35the influence of others. Look, around
154. 5:40the 1st century BC, the Greeks used the
155. 5:43thickness of a finger as a unit of
156. 5:45length. 16 fingers made a foot, and 24
157. 5:48fingers equaled an Olympic cubit. To
158. 5:51measure volumes, they used the metretes
159. 5:54as a basic measure, and for weight, the
160. 5:56unit used was the talent. Commercial
161. 5:59dominance of the Mediterranean passed
162. 6:01from the Greeks to the Romans. The
163. 6:03Romans used a numerical system based on
164. 6:0512. They adopted the Greek system and
165. 6:08divided the foot into 12 parts called
166. 6:10inches. The year came to have a dozen
167. 6:13months. To measure weights, they used
168. 6:16the pound. To measure volumes, the main
169. 6:19unit was the sextarius. They measured
170. 6:22distances with paces and miles. Five
171. 6:24feet equaled one pace, and 1,000 paces
172. 6:27made a mile.
173. 6:30From this measurement system, we can
174. 6:31deduce that Roman society was sustained
175. 6:33by armies that covered great distances
176. 6:35on foot, expanding the empire.
177. 6:38That's right. And it also laid the
178. 6:40foundations for the medieval European
179. 6:41measurement system. If not, look,
180. 6:44medieval Europe used the Roman system
181. 6:47with Egyptian, Babylonian, and Greek
182. 6:49roots. Regional variations also emerged
183. 6:52, and Arabic and Scandinavian elements
184. 6:54were added. Commercial needs pushed for
185. 6:57new changes. In the 10th and 11th
186. 7:00centuries, within trade fairs, the use
187. 7:02of common units of measure was imposed.
188. 7:05An example is the ell, which was a unit
189. 7:08of measure used for fabrics. A metal
190. 7:11rod was the official one, and with it,
191. 7:13they compared all the ells used by
192. 7:15merchants. However, until the 18th
193. 7:18century, there was no unified system of
194. 7:20units valid for large regions. France
195. 7:24was one of the most chaotic countries
196. 7:26regarding this issue. For example,
197. 7:28around the year 1795, the French used
198. 7:31more than 700 units of measure that
199. 7:33changed from one town to another. It is
200. 7:37logical that in the 19th century,
201. 7:39measurement systems were unified. The
202. 7:41development of industry and trade
203. 7:43required a certain harmony.
204. 7:46Yes. However, the system that can
205. 7:48measure the most difficult thing of all
206. 7:49is missing.
207. 7:51What are you referring to?
208. 7:52Feelings. Imagine a kind of thermometer
209. 7:56that could tell you how much you love
210. 7:58someone. Obviously, the unit of
211. 7:59measurement would be an "adela." Sure,
212. 8:01because it's my idea, right?
213. 8:03And how would that work? You get an
214. 8:06adelametry and it tells you how many
215. 8:09adelas you measure relative to someone.
216. 8:12Let's see, between zero and 10 Adelas
217. 8:14is an acquaintance,
218. 8:16between 10 and 20 is a friend. So we
219. 8:19keep going up, up, up until we reach 50
220. 8:21, which is the maximum point of Adelas
221. 8:24for total love. No,
222. 8:25poor guy, right? It's like, can you
223. 8:29imagine what it's like to put up with
224. 8:3150 Adelas? Poor thing. Oh, 50 adelas.
225. 8:43Here, consult Saviondo. I have to check
226. 8:47my calculations. In the meantime, I'm
227. 8:50going to see if I can do something new
228. 8:51with this dinosaur.
229. 8:53Well, well, go ahead, Mr. Cosme. No
230. 8:54problem. The meter solidified the idea
231. 9:02of a unit that was not arbitrary and
232. 9:04did not belong to any particular nation
233. 9:06on Earth. Derived units of area and
234. 9:09volume were adopted, the square meter
235. 9:11and the cubic meter. Other units such
236. 9:14as the gram or the liter were also
237. 9:16agreed upon. The decimal metric system
238. 9:19introduced a revolution in the
239. 9:20calculation of multiples and
240. 9:22submultiples of areas and volumes. It
241. 9:25was only necessary to move the decimal
242. 9:27point two places for areas and three
243. 9:29places for volumes. Due to its
244. 9:32simplicity, the decimal metric system
245. 9:35began to be adopted outside of France
246. 9:37when Napoleon Bonaparte's armies
247. 9:39invaded other parts of Europe. Yes, but
248. 9:44there were countries that did not adopt
249. 9:45this system, such as Great Britain and
250. 9:47its former colonies. And these nations
251. 9:50keep Roman units like the pound and the
252. 9:52mile, or medieval ones like the acre
253. 9:54and the pint. But let's keep going.
254. 9:59In 1875, the International Bureau of
255. 10:01Weights and Measures was founded. Its
256. 10:04mission was to build and maintain new
257. 10:06standards, in addition to the meter and
258. 10:09kilogram, and to improve measurement
259. 10:11methods in all areas of knowledge. The
260. 10:15bureau also took on defining new units
261. 10:17such as thermometric, electrical, or
262. 10:20lighting units called photometric ones.
263. 10:26Very interesting, knowing the truth.
264. 10:28Very interesting.