The SI Revisited by Universities

Abstract

The revision of the SI brings a great opportunity for many communities that make use of metrology, many times without realizing what is behind. Some of these communities are the whole society, common citizens that care for their health, safety and the environment; sellers-consumers; industry and enterprises; and the knowledge communities such as universities and research centers. This paper has to do with the meaning of the revision made to the SI by the scientific community and so, it is mostly of the interest of the last group, universities, engineering-science schools and research centers. The construction of the SI as a concept, or a system of concepts, clearly obeys the fundamental principles of formal science: the search for unity, totality and simplicity. From that standpoint, it is fairly easy to see how the development of the different disciplines in science have evolved together with the branches of metrology: classical mechanics with weights, length and time; electromagnetical theory with the electrical units of charge, current and tension; thermal sciences with the kelvin; chemistry with the mol; light with the candela… Are all of these necessary and independent to allow us understand and explain nature? Is this a ´generating set’ of vectors that has the scientific qualities of being all comprehensive and with the minimum expression? And what about the technological-material realizations of those concepts? Because measurement is the fundamental link that connects facts to theory. Without any of those anchors, there is no measurement. So, theoretical models have to be clearly understood by metrologists, as well as the practical means to materialize and demonstrate such theories, within certain values and margins of uncertainty. The paper analyses these questions and, knowing that ´the history of science is a succession or decreasing errors’ (F. Engels), makes a deep reflection on the parallel evolution of metrology with science and posts a proposal on how it could be taught in science and engineering universities to enrich their curricula.