ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a coherent account of the differences that do exist between the various constants that feature in most prized physical theories. It is concerned with some constants are more significant than others, and whether, in some appropriate way, certain constants can be reduced to others. N. R. Campbell considered many constants in empirical laws to belong to this category of mundane constants, where they would remain until a more fundamental theoretical account could be given for their values. The significance of the composite constants appears to arise from their use in successful theories and models: quantum electrodynamics, the theory of the atom, the theory of the nucleus, and thermodynamics. The existence of such constants is a contingent consequence of the existence of more basic categories of constants from which they are derived. The most fundamental constants are identified with the standard objects, providing a view of these constants as physical units which appeals to scientists.
