It is a numeral on the alarm clock that tells me when I should get up. For example today, a perfectly ordinary Thursday. The week is already 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 at that time.
Well then, legs over the edge of the bed and I drag myself into the bathroom. Once again, I am met by a numeral. While I can easily adjust the moment I am awoken by my alarm clock, the numeral on my accursed scales does not seem easy 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 is also running.
Refreshed and dry once again, I immediately encounter the next numeral. The thermometer tells me that I should wear a jacket today as soon as I leave the house. And although it 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 car, I am met by the next numeral. My arrival at work is going to be delayed by a few minutes because I need to fill the fuel tank en route. As soon as I reach the filling station, I am able to check another numeral, the one that indicates my tyre pressures. Something that I 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 is quite normal for an official from the calibration authority to check the accuracy of everything on a regular basis. 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 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 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 would stand at the boundary like a small boy and simply stare at all of it.
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. No matter what we do, and where we may go, measurements are omnipresent. As soon as you start thinking about it, the list just keeps getting longer: I 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 can establish the temperature with measuring sensors. We can measure pressure in three different ways. We can measure flow rates and levels. We can measure tension and compression forces and we can calculate angles. We can make entire systems safe by monitoring measured values. Anyone who knows metrology sees the world through different eyes. Does that apply to you, too?
Note
Further information on our measuring instruments can be found on the WIKA website.