On the Nature of Dimensions
- 1 October 1964
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Philosophy of Science
- Vol. 31 (4), 357-380
- https://doi.org/10.1086/288020
Abstract
In the first part of this paper it is shown that unit names, whether simple or complex, whether of fundamental, associative or derivative measurement, may always be regarded as the names of scales. In the second it is shown that dimension names, whether simple, like “[M]”, “[L]” and “[T]”, or complex dimensional formulae, may always be regarded as the names of classes of similar scales. Thus, a new foundation for the theory of dimensional analysis is provided, and in the light of this, its nature and scope are examined. Dimensional analysis is shown to depend upon certain conventions for expressing numerical laws.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Some fundamental problems of indirect measurementAustralasian Journal of Philosophy, 1961
- Some fundamental problems of direct measurementAustralasian Journal of Philosophy, 1960
- On the Theory of Scales of MeasurementScience, 1946