It is a numeral on the alarm clock that tells me when I should get right up. For example today, a perfectly ordinary Thursday. The week is already well advanced and I’m correspondingly tired. But none of this is of any help, and because every morning this tiny little numeral resides within me, I love getting up at that time.
Well then, legs on the edge of the bed and I drag myself in to the bathroom. Once again, I am met by way of a numeral. While I can easily adjust the moment I’m awoken by my alarm clock, the numeral on my accursed scales does not seem an easy task to influence. Or, at best, in the long-term. I decide at night to go jogging, but first splash my face with water. Even then, I visit a numeral with my inner eye ? the water meter is also running.
Refreshed and dry once again, I immediately encounter another numeral. The thermometer informs me that I will wear a jacket today the moment I leave the house. And although it really is only a short distance to the car, I am glad within my own private measuring station for that piece of advice. Once I reach the automobile, I’m met by another numeral. My arrival at work will likely be delayed by a short while because I have to fill the fuel tank on the way. When I reach the filling station, I am in a position to check another numeral, the one that indicates my tyre pressures. A thing that I really do not check often enough. Also, while my fuel tank is slowly getting filled, I ask myself if anyone has taken the trouble to check the fuel pump using a standardized 5-litre canister. Why not? You see, it really is quite normal for the official from the calibration authority to check on the accuracy of everything frequently. In many the areas too, we can depend upon the point that everything gets measured accurately.
My extended solution to work takes me past a large building site. What beautiful machines! Especially with the cranes ? once again with that inner eye of mine ? I can see so many numerals: The weight raised on the boom will be monitored, and angles are receiving measured. When approaching the limits of the tipping lines, even the thrust and support forces become of interest. If I had the time, I would stand at the boundary just like a small boy and simply stare at everything.
Then, finally, I reach the company and a perfectly normal Thursday follows its usual course. As always, Terrible are in work here, ones that ultimately co-determine our lives. No matter what we do, and where we might go, measurements are omnipresent. As soon as you start great deal of thought, the list just keeps getting longer: I start to see the world in numerals because we here at WIKA divide up the everyday things into numerals. We can build scales with load cells, and we are able to establish the temperature with measuring sensors. We can measure pressure in three different ways. We are able to measure flow rates and levels. We are able to measure tension and compression forces and we are able to calculate angles. We are able to make entire systems safe by monitoring measured values. Greatness who knows metrology sees the world through different eyes. Does that connect with you, too?
Note
More info on our measuring instruments can be found on the WIKA website.