IntroductionInstrumentation: Where Knowledge and Reality Meet

Instrumentation comprises scientific activities and technologies that are related to measurement. It is a link between physical, chemical and biological phenomena and their perception by humans. Constantly evolving, instrumentation changes how we live and plays a major role in industrial and life sciences; it is also indispensable to the fundamental sciences. In order to be credible, all new theories must undergo a series of experimental validations, of which instrumentation is the cornerstone.

Is curiosity a distinguishing human trait? Certainly, this characteristic leads us to question, to understand, to explain, and finally to “know”. The more we explore, the broader our range of investigation becomes. Since the 18th century, scientific and technical knowledge have undergone an exponential expansion, an explosive growth of combined learning, but this kind of growth leaves us with unanswered questions. In this context, instrumentation serves to stimulate scientific knowledge in the junction between theory and experimental practice.

Even before humanity developed a body of scientific knowledge, signs of technological progress had appeared in ancient civilizations. By 5,000 BC, humans had fashioned stone tools, and later began working in metal around 3,800 BC. Ancient Greeks, such as the philosopher Aristotle, who lived in the 4th century BC, were probably among the first thinkers to put forward logical explanations ...

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