SCALE UNIT
Charles François (2004). SCALE UNIT, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 2928.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2928 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
- “The minimum interval in terms of which the scale of the magnitude can usefully or definably be graduated”.
D. Mc KAY, author of the definition, adds: “For a magnitude imprecisely known it is defined… to be equal to the probable range of error… But it should be remembered that in theoretical representations the size of the scale-unit is generally limited by our inability to define a smaller unit in terms of the coincidence-relations out of which physical representations are constructed” (1969, p.168).
Different scale units correspond to different levels of observation, and the lesser ones are in a sense embedded into the higher ones. The understanding of the various scale units to be used is of utmost importance in the study of complex cyclical or cyclomorphic phenomena.