Today, let’s begin our story with a simple ruler.
As one of office/school necessities, ruler is familiar to everyone. But have you ever closely observed the ruler? Below is a very ordinary ruler, and I bet everyone has such a ruler or alike.
(Source: Baidu)
The scale on the ruler is in centimeter (cm). But how on earth did centimeter come into being?
The story goes back to the French Revolution in 1789. At that time, the King squandered wantonly and imposed heavy taxes to meet the endless extravagance. To collect more taxes, the aristocrats privately set up various units of measurement (as many as 250,000 different kinds nationwide). The citizens were miserable beyond description due to heavy taxes and exploitation.
The Storming of The Bastille (Source: Wikipedia)
In the end, the outrageous masses of the people launched a revolution, captured the Bastille, overthrew Louis XVI regime and established the French First Republic.
The first thing that the French National Constituent Assembly wanted to do is unification of weights and measures, which is carried out by famous French scientist Antoine Lavoisier.
Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier (Source: Wikipedia)
In 1795, French Academy of Sciences issued a new measure system called Metric. 10 mm equals to 1 cm; 10 cm equals to 1 dm; and 10 dm equals to 1 m. The French Academy of Sciences defines meter as equal to one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the Equator.
With the development of international trade and the expansion of colonialism, the Metric system gradually gained its popularity worldwide. Almost all countries and regions on the globe adopt the Metric system. This is the origin of cm.
However, do you think the story of the ruler ever ends? Definitely, NO!
Many rulers today will surprise you (or “scare” you).
The LV ruler below costs more than 218 USD (1,500 RMB). It’s like a single centimeter will cost about 15 USD (100 RMB).
Tiffany’s stationery is unwilling of being lagged behind. Its price is even more horrible: a ruler priced at about 445 USD (3055 RMB), and a total three-piece set consisting of ruler, triangle ruler and protractor will cost more than 1285 USD (8830 RMB), making me putting a wry smile.
I just wonder why it is soooooooo expensive?
Is it always so difficult to have an exquisite ruler with reasonable price?
Of course not, there are cheaper but good choices as well.
TIANSE launches Brass Stationery Series featuring Brass Ruler, Brass Triangle Ruler and Brass Protractor, etc. With fine polishing and detailed craftsmanship, the brass stationery are not only beautiful in shape and shiny in color, but also exquisite in simplicity and elegant in taste.
Post time: Jul-23-2018