Call for papers: reform of the International System of units (SI)
CALL
FOR PAPERS
The
reform of the International System of units.
Philosophical,
historical and sociological perspectives
Special
issue of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science
Guest
editors: Nadine de Courtenay, Olivier Darrigol, Oliver Schlaudt
As it stands today, the International System of units
(SI) rests on a heterogeneous set of definitions. The kilogram is defined in
terms of a material artifact whilst the definition of other base units, such as
the meter, are related to fundamental constants. A reform aiming at redefining
all the SI base units on the model of the meter is now under way: the
definitions will be based on certain laws of nature and a choice of fundamental
constants whose values will be frozen after they have been measured with an
uncertainty sufficiently small to allow the revision of the system without
introducing inconsistencies.
The new system will come close to carrying out
Planck’s idea of a « natural » system of units. It has now become
possible to achieve this idea thanks to the theoretical developments of the
20th century and the discovery of quantum-based measurement principles that
link the macroscopic to the microscopic world (laser interferometry, Josephson
effect, quantum Hall effect). Measurement science will thus be put on a level
with the theoretical and technical advancements of our time. However, a
considerable amount of theoretical, experimental and institutional work has
still to be carried at an international level before the reform can be
implemented.
By bringing many difficulties and discussions in the
metrological community, this enterprise lays bare the entanglement of the
scientific, technological and social features that come into play in the
development of knowledge. In addition to deep theoretical questions, the
construction of the new SI involves normative activities governing the
communicability and comparability of scientific results, and depends on a large
number of interactions that are at one and the same time epistemic, material,
and coordinated by institutions. The study of the SI reform seems thus to offer
an opportunity to bridge the gulf that has divided philosophical, historical
and sociological approaches of science during the last decades of the previous
century.
A special issue of the Journal for General
Philosophy of Science will be devoted to the construction of the new
SI. The guest editors of this special issue call for contributions that will
address philosophical, historical and social questions raised by the SI reform
program. Historical studies dealing with previous constructions of systems of
units are welcome as long as they shed light on the challenges of the ongoing
reform.
A sample of the topics that could be addressed
are:
- The logic of the construction of coherent system of
units
- The nature of fundamental constants and their role
in the new system
- The impact of new experimental setups linking the
microscopic to the macroscopic
- Measurement uncertainty and the adjustment of the
values of fundamental physical constants
- The construction of new international institutional
spaces necessary for the implementation of the new SI
Manuscripts
should :
- be
formatted according to the guidelines of Journal for General Philosophy
of Science (see below).
- contain an abstract of 100-150 words
- count 12.000 words max.
- be prepared for blind peer reviewing
- be sent to the guest editors: special.issue.si@gmail.com (mailto:special.issue.si@gmail.com)
Calendar:
March
2014: deadline for submissions
June
2014: peer reviews, decisions
September
2014: submission of final versions
Publication
: 1/2015
Cf.
also the journal's instructions for authors on :