Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition
by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
001 Abbe Principle
Measure things so that the measuring scale is aligned with the distance being measured.
The Abbe principle, proposed by the physicist Ernst Abbe, states that measurements should be taken so that the measuring scale is in line with the distance to be measured. This principle of measurement is meant to address angular errors in design. In cases where applying the Abbe principle is not possible, measurements should be taken in a way that minimizes the angular motion or permits the ability to calculate and correct the offset. For example, calipers take measurements with jaws that are to the side of the measurement scale. Therefore, any angular error of the motion of the moving jaw amplifies the error of the scale, which results ...
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