Article ID: CBB401364988

Wilhelm Foerster's Role in the Metre Convention of 1875 and in the Early Years of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (2019)

unapi

The Metre Convention was signed on May 20, 1875 with the mission “to assure the international unification and perfection of the metric system” (today the International System of Units SI). The Convention continues to fulfill this mission, notably with the redefinition of the SI at the 26th General Conference on Weights and Measures in November 2018. A key role in the drawing up of the Convention was played by Wilhelm Foerster, at the time Director of the German Weights and Measures Service and Director of the Berlin Observatory. Foerster and Adolph Hirsch, Director of the Neuchatel Observatory, were the principal architects of the Convention and both contributed very much to the early years of its operation, Foerster as President of the International Committee for Weights and Measures and Hirsch as Secretary. In this article, the origin of the Convention, the creation of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures established at Sevres, and the many contributions of Wilhelm Foerster are outlined.

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Authors & Contributors
Kershaw, Michael
Emma Prevignano
Epstein, Jessica
Sartori, Sergio
Kletnieks, Janis
Kaminskis, Janis
Concepts
Metric system
Standards and standardization
Metrology
Measurement
Weights and measures
Science and government
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
21st century
18th century
Modern
20th century, early
Places
United States
Latvia
Hanover (Germany)
Russia
France
Europe
Institutions
Convention du mètre (1875)
Latvian Academy of Sciences
International Bureau of Weights and Measures
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