SMT007 Magazine

SMT007-Sept2019

Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1161956

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 36 of 117

SEPTEMBER 2019 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 37 whereby all other measures of extension whatsoever, whether the same be lineal, superficial or solid, shall be derived, com- puted and ascertained…" Change and Constance, Simultaneously In 1834, the primary imperial yard standard was partially destroyed by a fire in the Brit- ish Parliament building. In 1838, a commis- sion began the reconstruction of all the stan- dards lost in the burning of Parliament. In 1845, using three previously existing second- ary standards ("R.S. 46," which was kept by the Royal Astronomical Society, and "A1" and "A2," which had been made for the Ordnance Survey), a new primary yard standard was constructed [7] . Thankfully, all three secondary standards had recently been compared to the primary standard, making the process some- what easier. The commission's recommendation was that the new standard was to be "made of Baily's metal No. 4 consisting of 16 parts copper, 2.5 parts tin, and one part zinc. It was 38 inches long and one-inch square." Between 1845 and 1855, 40 different yard standard candi- dates were fabricated—one of which was ulti- mately selected as the new imperial standard. The Weights and Measures Act of 1855 granted official recognition to the new yard, amongst other reconstructed standards [7] . Four of the candidate standards—the Parlia- mentary Copies—were distributed to the Royal Mint, the Royal Observatory, the Houses of Par- liament, and the Royal Society of London. The cities of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin each received a standard example, as did a number of foreign countries. However, the foreign cop- ies are no longer considered full standards [7] ; for example, the imperial standard received by the United States is known as "Bronze Yard No. 11." Further, "The Weights and Measures Act 1878 confirmed the status of the existing yard standard, mandated regular intercompar- isons between the several yard standards and authorized the construction of one additional Parliamentary Copy (made in 1879 and known as Parliamentary Copy VI)." Running Down the Rails The almost-but-not-quite-true story persists that standard gauge railroad tracks have a direct lineage to Roman chariots. The story goes that railroad tracks were gauged to match exist- ing horse wagon spacing, which then traces all the way back to the original wheel ruts cut by Roman chariots [8] . While not strictly true, myth does point out that similarities arise in part from sharing equipment between horse- drawn vehicles and the newly developed rail- roads. It should be noted, however, that a vari- ety of track gauges have been, and continue to be, in existence. Looking to American history, for example, one reason often cited for the ultimate failure of the Confederate cause was that the Confed- erate States had not been successful in stan- dardizing the railroad gauge throughout the region. With 113 different railroad companies and three different track gauges, the South was hampered in setting up workable supply lines. The Union States in the north, however, had already reached a standard agreement, allow- ing rail cars to travel easily anywhere on the rail network. This standard helped win the U.S. Civil War [8] . Time Zones The concept of noon is entirely local to the place where you are. Solar noon, it can be argued, is the source idea for midday. Solar noon is the moment in time when the sun re aches its highest point (celestial meridian) in the sky. Naturally, solar noon is a func- tion of one's longitude and the time of year. When travel meant moving no faster than a horse could run, time could be localized from

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of SMT007 Magazine - SMT007-Sept2019