Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2018

History and Measurement of the Base and Derived Units

Authors:

  • Explores the overall development and evolution of measurement along with new perspectives to place measurement and units in an historical context

  • Provides origins and applications of the U.S. customary and English disparate systems of measurement and discusses why it is so difficult to change measurement systems

  • Introduces dimensional analysis and the “Factor-Label” approach, which helps ensure the final result from complex conversions is dimensionally consistent and reduces the likelihood of error in conversions involving multiple units and factors

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Measurement Perspectives

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 1-60
  3. Interconversion of Units

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 61-69
  4. Metric and U.S. Customary/English Systems

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 71-100
  5. Historical Length or Distance

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 101-299
  6. Historical Area

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 301-390
  7. Historical Volume or Capacity

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 391-561
  8. Historical Weight and Mass

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 563-771
  9. Historical Time

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 773-835
  10. Historical Temperature

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 837-864
  11. Historical Angular Measurement

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 865-884
  12. Historical Electrical Charge and Current

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 885-907
  13. Historical Amounts of Substances

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 909-925
  14. Historical Luminous Intensity

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 927-945
  15. From Base Units to Derived Units

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 947-1017
  16. Common Modern Conversions

    • Steven A. Treese
    Pages 1019-1121

About this book

This book discusses how and why historical measurement units developed, and reviews useful methods for making conversions as well as situations in which dimensional analysis can be used.
It starts from the history of length measurement, which is one of the oldest measures used by humans. It highlights the importance of area measurement, briefly discussing the methods for determining areas mathematically and by measurement. The book continues on to detail the development of measures for volume, mass, weight, time, temperature, angle, electrical units, amounts of substances, and light intensity. The seven SI/metric base units are highlighted, as well as a number of other units that have historically been used as base units.

Providing a comprehensive reference for interconversion among the commonly measured quantities in the different measurement systems with engineering accuracy, it also examines the relationships among base units in fields such as mechanical/thermal, electromagnetic and physical flow rates and fluxes using diagrams.



Authors and Affiliations

  • P.E., Gig Harbor, USA

    Steven A. Treese

About the author

Steven Treese retired from Phillips 66 as the Hydroprocessing Team Lead in 2013; but continues to take on the occasional consulting assignment in process engineering and refining.  He started his professional career with Union Oil Company of California in 1973 as a Research Engineer with a BS in Chemical Engineering from Washington State University.  He followed company heritages through Unocal, Tosco, Phillips, ConocoPhillips, and Phillips 66.  Steve’s range of experience includes hydroprocessing, hydrogen, operations, process safety, catalyst development, utilities, sulfur recovery, geothermal, shale oil, nitrogen fertilizers, process design, procurement, and licensing.  

Steve is a licensed Professional Engineer with a handful of publications. He was on the 1994 NPRA Question and Answer Panel and was lead editor for the “Handbook of Petroleum Processing, 2nd Edition” (Springer, 2015). He has been an inventor on patents in diverse areas, including vessel internals, enhanced oil recovery, and hydroprocessing. He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Steve’s hobbies include woodworking, boating, fermentation, robotics, and photography.  He is a mentor for FIRST Robotics Team 3049 in Bremerton, WA, USA

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access