HEARTSCORE

So,

as the numbers of their imagination

spread out through their Creation,

humans had to agree on how to measure things,

and for the moment in the Scottish corner of the world

that means the decimal system of units of measure.

So the unit of distance is the metre,

and its kilometre, centimetre and millimetre,

and the unit of weight is the gram,

with its kilograms and milligrams.

And from the unit of distance

they made a unit of volume,

as a cube with edges measuring ten centimetres

which makes 1000cc,

1000 cubic centimetres,

a litre.

And the unit of temperature was defined as

one hundredth of the range of temperature

between the freezing and boiling points of water.

Ten became triumphant,

and the age of twelve pennies and sixteen ounces was over.

And because they fit so well with

the ten finger based number system they were made to work with,

metres and grams are good for measuring different lengths and weights

of all sorts of different things,

very small things to very large things,

very precisely

but also in a way that is easy to imagine and compare.

And as people get used to what things measure,

they can often estimate things quite accurately

just by looking at them.

What an amazing ability that is,

the eye seeing the light reflected from an object far away,

and allowing the brain to measure it from a distance.

But eyeball estimates can't come close

to the sort of precision of measurement that is possible now,

from the microscopic,

where a wavelength of light can be accurately measured,

and subatomic particles can be tracked.

There is a need for precision if machinery is to work.

Pistons work better when their surfaces are smooth,

and even then it helps if what roughness remains

is smoothed with a little oil.

People need precision to get a fineness of finish,

the cut of fine clothing,

the cut of a jewel,

the beauty of something done with skill and care

in a way that is measured.

But as we raise our eyes

from what is roughly in our scale range

up towards the heavens,

precision in measurement quickly loses its relevance,

as we are like the subatomic particles,

and distances between the objects we see are estimated in light years.

Measurement is the way

that we represent the world around us using numbers,

but numbers don't just measure distance

volume and weight or power

Measure

is at the root of applied mathematics,

where the abstract world of the imagination

is made solid and practical.

And that imaginary world being made solid

is what we call our Creation,

and beneath it all

God is the Creator

the Maker and the Shaper.

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