ABSTRACT
The ability to measure has fueled nearly all technological advances. Each new measurement has given engineers and scientists ways to extend our natural abilities to better measure the physical properties inherent in objects. Measurement enhances our ability to sense things not accessible to our native intelligence. When we test and measure the phenomena around us, new vistas of knowledge appear, and more pieces of the technical world fit into place. Each item of information concerning a technical discipline is compared to what is already known about the subject; the total knowledge about whatever had been measured is enhanced. For example, discovery of small differences in the orbit of the planet Neptune led to the discovery of the planet Pluto, because comparison of Neptune’s predicted orbit to the measured, actual orbit led to the assumption that another planet was exerting an influence on Neptune. Mathematically, it was then relatively easy to identify the location of the new planet, but finding Pluto would have been impossible without the accuracy of modern astronomical telescopes and other related measuring devices. There are instruments to measure almost every principle and practice in most technical fields, and nearly every one of them extends, refines, and improves human capabilities by increasing sensitivity, range, speed, accuracy, precision, and consistency. Unfortunately, there are no such instruments in software development.
