Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 54 — page 43: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION measurements. When youread the temperature shown by a thermometer, you are merely expressing a length of a mercury column in degrees rather than inches or centi- metres. Similarly with pressure measurements; the barometer and manometer simply gives us /engths—which we happen to have calibrated against known pressures. There is no way of measur- ing electricity except by deter- mining the Jength through which the needle of an instru- ment such as a galvanometer moves. And when you look at a clock, you are seeing a highly conventionalised ex- pression of how much a wheel has moved on its axis. Take it from us—or the experts if you care to look them up—whenever you measure something, you are measuring a length. Now we can see how im- portant was the invention of a length measuring instru- ment. We can find very little information on the early his- tory of the rule. This often happens with the most im- portant—and, therefore, familiar—instruments. Wecan be certain that length measur- ing devices were in use at a very early stage in man’s histery. Notched sticks and 42 knotted ropes in the most ancient human societies. It appears that the Sumerians were the first people to develop a fairly complete system of measuring lengths and translating them into other things. It is from these ° people that we derive the 12’s and 60’s, so common in our measurement of time, money, angles, etc. With the passing of cen- turies, the length-measuring device was improved to a high degree—something which could not occur until reasonably permanent. and unvarying standards became possible. But the “‘ruler” used in millions of classrooms, drawing offices and studios today, though perhaps now made of plastic, is very little different from the “‘ruler’’ that was in use hundreds of years ago. Such persistence of form and popularity testifies to its essential role in the running of any kind of ciVilisation. Though man’s inherent lazi- ness has induced the design of many complicated instruments for measuring various types of lengths, the humble rule could, at a pinch and with rather more trouble, be used for all such purposes. Don’t despise the rule. Your existence depends on it. commiclbookks.com