ABSTRACT
The world realized long ago that the plus and minus system of dimensioning and tolerancing parts was insufficient to consistently convey design intent. It was a language incapable of transferring the creative inventions of mankind to paper in such a way as to be unambiguous when interpreted by others. Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing through the American National Standards Institute's Yl4.5 Standard is the result of many years of study and collaboration by dedicated individuals in the United States to find a more complete language of design. It is composed of many symbols and concepts. However, it is a language of symbols that allows us, perhaps for the first time, to convey those ideas in a way that is precise and logical. This chapter starts with a comparison of the plus and minus system for location and what has often been called "true positioning".
