A Tale About the First Weights and Measures Intercomparison in the United States in 1832

Albert C Parr

doi:10.6028/jres.111.003

A Tale About the First Weights and Measures Intercomparison in the United States in 1832

J Res Natl Inst Stand Technol. 2006 Feb 1;111(1):31-40. doi: 10.6028/jres.111.003. Print 2006 Jan-Feb.

Author

Albert C Parr¹

Affiliation

¹ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8440.

Abstract

In preparation for the Hassler memorial tablet dedication in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Administration Building lobby in December of 2004, I learned that Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler had carried out the first systematic study of weights and measures in the United States. I obtained a copy of Comparison of Weights and Measures of Length and Capacity Reported to the Senate of the United States which is Hassler's 1832 report to Congress on this comparison that related all the weights and measures then in use by the states and federal customhouses. Handwritten inscriptions in the book reveal interesting facts about Hassler's work and his communication with other scientists in Europe at that time.

Keywords: Hassler; history; intercomparison.