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The Système International D’Unités (SI) of 1960

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A Brief History of the Metric System

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science ((BRIESFHISTCHEM))

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Abstract

The international metrology institutions founded by the Metre Convention became involved in other aspects of measurement of interest to science. At the time it established the international prototypes of the meter and kilogram, it was already interested in temperature scales. In the twentieth century, electrical units also came under its purview. In 1960, the 11th CGPM (Conférence générale des poids et mesures, or General Conference of Weights and Measures) introduced the Système international d’unités (International System of Units, SI) based on six base units: the meter, kilogram, second, degree Kelvin, ampere and candela. This chapter outlines some of the events that led to the introduction of the SI. Then it briefly goes back in time to sketch histories of the base units that were not part of the original metric system, namely the second, the degree Kelvin, the ampere and the candela.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This publication of the BIPM is commonly known as the SI Brochure. The most recent editions of the brochure are available in both French and English. In addition to current definitions and specifications of the SI, the brochure contains an appendix of past decisions made by CGPM and CIPM affecting the units.

  2. 2.

    In angular measures, minute and second have the same relationship to degree that they have to hour in temporal measures.

  3. 3.

    At the triple point of a pure substance, that substance can exist in solid, liquid and gaseous (vapor) forms simultaneously. (That is, the forms are in equilibrium: there is no tendency for one form to change to another.) A triple point occurs at a unique temperature and pressure. For water, the triple point occurs at a very slightly higher temperature than the standard freezing point (namely 0.010 °C) and a pressure only about 0.006 times that of the standard atmosphere.

  4. 4.

    Water would make a terrible thermometric fluid because its density does not change monotonically over this range. As noted in Sect. 2.7, the density of water goes through a maximum value at 4 °C.

  5. 5.

    The absolute zero of this scale is one previously identified by Guillaume Amontons (1663–1705) as the temperature at which the pressure of air would become zero based on extrapolation.

  6. 6.

    The triple point is a more natural and less arbitrary fixed point than a standard freezing or boiling point. The latter are defined for a standard (and therefore somewhat arbitrary) pressure.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Carmen J. Giunta

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  1. Carmen J. Giunta
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Correspondence to Carmen J. Giunta .

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Giunta, C.J. (2023). The Système International D’Unités (SI) of 1960. In: A Brief History of the Metric System. SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28436-6_4

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