Stephen Mihm, an associate professor of history in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, received $108,000 from the National Science Foundation. The funding is part of a continuing grant to study the history of standards and standardization in the U.S., including uniform systems of weights, measures, timekeeping, electrical units, as well as product specifications governing everything from screw threads to paper sizes. No comprehensive history of U.S. standards and standardization exists, and Mihm’s work promises to remedy that oversight by digging deeply into archival sources, personal papers of historical figures and opinions on standardization found in journals and the popular press.
