The Nicobarese, a people who inhabit several islands in the Bay of Bengal, calculate the distance between one and the other based on the number of coconuts they drink on the way. Meanwhile, the latest definition of the meter, collected by the Spanish Metrology Center, says that it is equivalent to the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during 1/299792458 of a second. Which of the two measures is more understandable? And more useful? Analysis of traditional measurement patterns used in nearly 200 cultures, published in Sciencenow shows that the majority used and still uses the human body as a universal rule.
With motorboats and bottled water, the Nicobarese practice of measuring distances is residual today. But it made perfect sense: the coconut water was vital to avoid dehydration and they needed to know how many coconuts to carry. That is one of the characteristics that define traditional measurement units, their connection with what is closest to them, their relationship with the context. By contrast, standard units of measure are as abstract as the definition of the meter shows. This key difference is repeated as a constant in almost all the cultures now analyzed.
“Today, in Finland, when we buy cross-country skis, we generally measure them with our own height,” recalls the researcher at the University of Helsinki and co-author of the study by Science, Roope Kaaroen. “The general rule of thumb is that skis should be 6 to 10 inches taller than the person wearing them. This is very similar to how some Saami [pueblo que tradicionalmente ha habitado Laponia, región de varios países nórdicos] They measured skis in the 16th century, except they used the person’s height plus one foot, which is probably 10 to 12 inches,” Kaaronen adds.
What the Finns do when they buy their skis has been a universal norm. Almost all of the 186 cultures analyzed have one or more length measurements that they use (or used) as a reference to a part of their body. The three most repeated, present in more than 20% of the sample, are the span (measured with the thumb and one of the other fingers), the elbow and the different variations of the arm or breaststroke (from the shoulder to the hand). or from one hand to another with arms outstretched). But there are many others, such as the width of the thumb (inches) or the length of the foot. The Bambara, a Mandinka people of West Africa, believe that each person has a spiritual twin, the daya. They measure the dya of an individual by measuring with the little finger the shadow that it casts at noon.
Another large group of measurements, present in 17% of the cultures analyzed, relies on events and activities to determine distance. It is the case of a stone’s throw away oh arrow release or the land plowed in one day (to calculate the area of a surface). For small scales, artifacts are used as a rule, in the case of the length of the arc, of a chain, a rope or a rod, such as the Castilian, of 0.8 meters, three times the Castilian foot. For long distances, the most repeated formula is the days of walking between one place and another. One aspect that the authors of the study highlight is that the same double phenomenon occurs in many cultures: the use of the same units of measurement, although they rarely coincide exactly. The Iberian rod, for example, did not measure the same in Teruel, Burgos or Alicante.
“It is easy to think that body-based measurement systems are primitive or inferior, but in reality they are better suited for some uses than standardized systems”
Mikael Manninen, a researcher in human dynamics at the University of Helsinki
“It is likely that in many cases these units of measurement originate from a common ancestor,” says Kaaronen. In addition, he adds, “measuring things with our body also comes naturally to us, and therefore it is quite possible that these units are universal because they were easily invented independently.” This researcher gives a third argument: “Another reason why some units are universal is that they are practical for specific tasks. The fathom is often used to measure loose items such as rope, cloth, or netting.
The authors of this study highlight several reasons that explain the emergence and survival of measures that use the human body as a reference. One is ergonomics. Like the skis of the Saami, but also the bow or the dimensions of canoes and kayaks, the best artifacts are those that fit human dimensions. Another reason is almost obvious: unlike the complex definition of the meter, which requires a ruler with exact precision, body measurements have the advantage that they do not require measuring tools. But the most relevant would be the integration with local knowledge. As the Nicobarese show, the necessary coconut water gives more information than a certain number of nautical miles. Or, what good is it to the Ifugao, people of the mountains of the northern Philippines, that the distance between two points is so many kilometers? They prefer to measure distances by the number of breaks they have to take to get there. In the mountains, linear meters are meaningless.
The first references to body measurements have been found in Mesopotamia, where writing and the first writings about kisses were also born, and in Ancient Egypt. Many of these old measurements ended up being adopted as official standards of measurement. This is the case of the royal cubit, which originated from the traditional cubit and became a standard of measurement in the land of the pharaohs 4,700 years ago. But the same standardization occurred with the passus Roman (step), the breaststroke of the Mayas or the chi of Chinese civilization, a measure of length similar to the European foot. Except for the traditional English measurements (inch, foot, yard…), which have become the standard of the imperial system, all have succumbed to the meter of the International System of Units.
“Having an international system of units has been a consequence of the scientific, technological and commercial evolution of humanity: it has been inevitable and essential”
María Dolores del Campo, director of the Mechanical Magnitudes and Engineering division of the Spanish Metrology Center
Mikael Manninen, also a scientist at the University of Helsinki and co-author of the study of Science, highlights the reasons for the transition to official patterns: “Body-based systems were and still are advantageous from the perspective of the individual using the tools, clothing, etc. But not from the perspective of mass production. That is why standardized measurement systems advanced rapidly along with the industrial revolution and, even before that, with international trade. Manninen acknowledges that “it is easy to think that body-based measurement systems are somehow primitive or inferior, but in reality they are more suitable for some uses than standardized systems and vice versa. Thus, body-based units have persisted alongside standardized measurement systems.”
Along with the Industrial Revolution, which began in England, the other focus of momentum for standardization was in France and its Enlightenment. After the French Revolution, the metric system was established in that country. Very shortly after, it arrived in Spain, as the director of the Mechanical Magnitudes and Engineering division of the Spanish Metrology Center (CEM), María Dolores del Campo, recalls: “Spain was a very advanced country when, almost at the same time as France, it introduced the decimal metric system through the Law of July 8, 1849, which can be considered as the first fundamental law of modern Spanish metrology”. But the political hazards of the Spanish 19th century and the resistance encountered made this and other attempts fail. Finally, in 1880, it was definitively approved. “This allowed the general implementation of the decimal metric system, although this did not prevent some last resistance from several of the old measurements,” adds del Campo.
For the physics of the CEM, the transition from traditional measurements to definitions as precise as the meter was almost a historical necessity: “All civilizations have developed a system of weights and measures: there is no civilization without human beings establishing relationships that always they carry the ideas of ownership and exchange, and as soon as there are exchanges, the weights and measures make their appearance and become essential”, he says. After the Middle Ages, “with the increase in trade around the world: trips to India and China, the discovery of America… It became essential to have a coherent measurement system,” he adds. To achieve this, the scientific advances of the 17th and 18th centuries were essential. Del Campo concludes by stating: “Having an international system of units has been a consequence of the scientific, technological and commercial evolution of humanity: it has been inevitable and essential”.
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