Measure is the Measure of All Things

Preview: A recent item from the science news website of Physics Today describes in readily accessible detail the plans to update the International System of Units of measurement (abbreviated “SI”) so as to base those units on what are currently understood to be “universal constants” of nature. This is viewed as a very exciting development in the field of metrology (the study of measurement), as it ends reliance on supposedly “arbitrary” units (such as the official meter rods held in one of several designated repositories) and replaces them with the objectively “universal” and “absolute” physical constants of reality. This discussion paper will be devoted to explaining the preceding scare quotes, as well as a handful of others.