ABSTRACT
Technologies and their operation require the use of measurements whose terms are generally understood. The roles of the International Organization for Standardization, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and the International Organization of Legal Metrology are outlined. The chapter then discusses volume, weights and measures; distance and altitude; location and the system of global coordinates; time; the universal day; and the dating of years and epochs. In some of these, world standards have been adopted, but for historic, local, cultural and religious reasons, many traditional referents continue in parallel use.
