The calculations of Kepler are sometimes thought of as the first ‘natural laws’ of science, in that they are unchanging, precise, and verifiable. Their authority is a product of their universality: their predictions are applicable not just to this planet at this time but to all planets across time and space. In other words, they are generalised, abstract rules – qualities essential to the development of measurement. Indeed, if you were to summarise the history of measurement in a single sentence, it would be as a history of increasing abstraction. Measurement begins life rooted in the
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