It is really a numeral on the noisy alarms that tells me when I should get right up. For example today, a perfectly ordinary Thursday. The week has already been well advanced and I am correspondingly tired. But none of that is of any help, and because every morning this tiny little numeral resides within me, I enjoy getting up in those days.
Well then, legs over the edge of the bed and I drag myself into 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 will not seem an easy task to influence. Or, at best, in the long-term. I decide in the evening to go jogging, but first splash my face with water. Even then, I see a numeral with my inner eye ? the water meter can be running.
Refreshed and dry once again, I immediately encounter another numeral. The thermometer tells me that I should wear a jacket today when I go out. And although it is just a short distance to the car, I am glad within my own private measuring station for that piece of advice. Once I reach the car, I am met by the next numeral. pressure gauge at the job will likely be delayed by a short while because I need to fill the fuel tank on the way. When I reach the filling station, I am able to check another numeral, one that indicates my tyre pressures. Something that I really do not check often enough. Also, while my fuel tank is slowly getting filled, I ask myself if anyone has had the trouble to check the fuel pump using a standardized 5-litre canister. Why not? You see, it really is quite normal for an official from the calibration authority to check on the accuracy of everything frequently. In many other areas too, we can depend upon the fact that everything is getting measured accurately.
My extended way to work takes me past a big building site. What beautiful machines! Especially with the cranes ? once more with that inner eye of mine ? I could see so many numerals: The weight raised on the boom will undoubtedly be monitored, and angles are getting measured. When approaching the limits of the tipping lines, even the thrust and support forces become of interest. If I had the time, I’d stand at the boundary just like a small boy and stare at everything.
Then, finally, I reach the company and a perfectly normal Thursday follows its usual course. As always, numerals are at work here, ones that ultimately co-determine our lives. Whatever we do, and where we may go, measurements are omnipresent. Once 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 are able to build scales with load cells, and we are able to establish the temperature with measuring sensors. We are able to 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 can make entire systems safe by monitoring measured values. Anyone who knows metrology sees the planet through different eyes. Does that apply to you, too?
Note
Further information on our measuring instruments are available on the WIKA website.