The Kilogram’s Long, Slow Climb To Harmony – The New Yorker
What makes a kilogram a kilogram? Since the late 19th century, the universal international ur-unit of mass has been directly linked to a specific cylinder of platinum alloy that resides in a secret location in Paris. It is called the International Prototype Kilogram, or I.P.K. for short. Recent attempts to compare the I.P.K. to copies made of it over the years have turned up unexpected discrepancies in the objects’ mass, probably from their being worn down during repeated weighings and comparisons. This story in the New Yorker tells the story of the kilogram, the I.P.K., and contemporary efforts to devise a new, truly immutable standard kilogram.
– Jon Bues, Senior Editor
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