Introduction to measurement

At present we have standardized to have a measurement system to make the necessary measurements, however, in antiquity it was not like that. First, we must be clear that the concept of measurement is equal to compare, that is, we compare some magnitudes with others.

The first units of measurement that people used were related to the magnitudes of their body, so they used the step, the span, the inch, etc. The need to measure arose to inform about hunting and gathering activities or to establish the limits of the villages.

But the problem that we find with the units of measurements of the human body is that for all people they do not have the same measures. We can find a larger hand of another so the measurement would not be exact. From here arose that a system of measurement that was equal for all was created.

It is also necessary to add that at first there was no universal measurement system, but that each country used its own measurement system. It was during the French Revolution that the first implantation of the metric system took place. Then it was internalized in other countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Portugal...

The measurement systems were undergoing a series of changes until they became the one we are currently in and that we use very frequently.