Role of Measurement in Science
- Measurement is a method/procedure that allows one to associate a number with a physical quantity such as time, energy, density, etc.
- Physics interact with the "Universe"/"Nature"/"Real World" by means of measurements.
- Measurement is the ultimate authority to which a physicist turns to determine the correctness of his conclusions.
- Reality to a physicist is that which he can observe through measurement.
- The fundamental physical quantities - Length, Time, Mass, Temperature, and Charge - are all defined by a measuring process. They are operationally defined. All other physical quantities such as velocity, energy, and force are defined by an equation in terms of the five fundamental quantities. They represent derived quantities.
- Physical models, no matter how beautiful or reasonable they may seem, will not be accepted as valid until their predictions are confirmed by experimental measurements. Models must be vulnerable to disproof. They must be testable.