and we are all subject to the tyranny of these numbers. In this updated and
extended edition, Jeffrey Huw Williams outlines the history of measurement;
particularly of the International System of units (SI). Since the
previous edition, the base units of the SI have been redefined; realizing a
150-year-old dream for a measurement system based on unchanging, fundamental
quantities of nature. This change has created a new SI, a Quantum SI, which
will significantly change the way we look at nature in a quantitative manner,
and greatly facilitate the advance of science.