Objekt 10
Standard meter
Description
in 1799, Etienne Lenoir received the official order to make the standard meter in platinum in the shape of a rectangular rod. The standard meter exhibited here with an iron rod shows a centimeter scale (dashes) and ten centimeters each with Arabic numerals. The inscription "Place du pied de 35 lignes" on the wooden case made it possible to compare it with the measurements in feet, inches, etc., which were common until then.
Object description
Manufacturer: Etienne Lenoir (1744-1832)
Paris, early 19th c
Iron rod, engraved, wooden case
Signature/inscription: Lenoir, No. 12, Place du pied de 35 lignes
Purchase in 1822 by the government of Basel
Deposit Institute of Physics of the University of Basel, Phys. 68.
Inv. 1986.408.