Sunday, May 20, was World Metrology Day, a celebration of the signing of the Treaty of the Meter on that date in 1875. By signing the treaty, representatives from 17 nations, including the United States, recognized the importance of worldwide uniformity of measurements and established a collaborative global framework for the advancement of measurement science. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Metrology for Safety.”

Measurement plays a key role in ensuring that products—e.g., cars, paints, food and medicines—and processes such as medical procedures, are safe. As the U.S. national metrology institute, the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) creates standard reference materials, improves measurement tools, develops performance metrics and advances metrology so that the nation has the best safety measures and measures of safety.