An Introduction to Uncertainty in Measurement: Using The Gum (Guide To The Expression Of Uncertainty In Measurement)
Cambridge University Press, 6/1/2006
EAN 9780521605793, ISBN10: 0521605792
Paperback, 248 pages, 24.4 x 17 x 1.4 cm
Language: English
Measurement shapes scientific theories, characterises improvements in manufacturing processes and promotes efficient commerce. In concert with measurement is uncertainty, and students in science and engineering need to identify and quantify uncertainties in the measurements they make. This book introduces measurement and uncertainty to second and third year students of science and engineering. Its approach relies on the internationally recognised and recommended guidelines for calculating and expressing uncertainty (known by the acronym GUM). The statistics underpinning the methods are considered and worked examples and exercises are spread throughout the text. Detailed case studies based on typical undergraduate experiments are included to reinforce the principles described in the book. This guide is also useful to professionals in industry who are expected to know the contemporary methods in this increasingly important area. Additional online resources are available to support the book at www.cambridge.org/9780521605793.
Preface
1. The importance of uncertainty in science and technology
2. Measurement fundamentals
3. Terms used in measurement
4. Introduction to uncertainty in measurement
5. Some statistical concepts
6. Systematic errors
7. Calculation of uncertainties
8. Probability density, the Gaussian distribution and the Central Limit Theorem
9. Sampling a Gaussian distribution
10. The t-distribution, and the Welch–Satterthwaite formula
11. Case studies in measurement uncertainty
Appendices
References
Index.
'... although it has plenty of equations and some discussions of complex issues, it is a remarkably readable text. I wish that the textbooks that I was required to buy at university were half as understandable. If you start at the beginning with a Granny Smith apple and a cup of tea, you will probably find that the cup is empty and the apple core brown before you put this book down ... there is some maths ... but if you are not maths-literate and think there is nothing in them for you, you are wrong ... I find that I can truthfully recommend this book to anyone with a serious interest in measurement and uncertainties, whether they are beginner or an old hand.' Jeffrey Tapping