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In 1882, in a lecture at the University of Leiden, Nobel prize-winner Heike Kammerlingh Onnes coined the motto: Through Measurement to Knowledge [1]. In that same lecture, he gave many historical examples of how measurements have fostered insight, including accounts of how Coulomb and Faraday used torsion-balance measurements to learn the fundamental properties of electromagnetic forces. Kammerlingh Onnes point is compelling: throughout history, measurements have helped to grow our understanding of electromagnetism and drive innovation. However, there is a complementary process at work, namely that new knowledge and innovations drive the development of new measurement techniques. It is a virtuous cycle: as we go through measurement to knowledge, we also move through knowledge to measurement.
Wallis, T.
and Pierantoni, L.
(2014),
Measurement Techniques for RF Nanoelectronics, IEEE Microwave Magazine, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/MMM.2013.2292758
(Accessed October 31, 2024)