Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Measure for Measure
  • Published:

The unit that shall not be named

Nature Physics volume 18, page 602 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Juris Meija takes a look at the tumultuous past of the atomic unit of mass from its beginnings as an idea to its most recent revisions in a hotel bar.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Dalton, J. A New System of Chemical Philosophy Vol. 1 (S. Russell, 1808); https://go.nature.com/3uoqmAb

  2. Maxwell, J. C. in Report of the Fortieth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (J. Murray, 1871); https://go.nature.com/3COXKDH

  3. Cooke, J. P. Jr. J. Franklin Inst. 92, 329–334 (1871).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Tanner, H. G. Science 59, 460 (1924).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Gribenski, F. Nat. Phys. 16, 232 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Nier, A. O. C. Transcript of Interviews conducted by Michael A. Grayson and Thomas Krick (Chemical Heritage Foundation, 1989); https://go.nature.com/37DhA9D

  7. Aston, F. W. Nature 135, 541 (1935).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Juris Meija

Authors
  1. Juris Meija
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juris Meija.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Meija, J. The unit that shall not be named. Nat. Phys. 18, 602 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01585-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01585-0

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing