- Giovanni Giorgi
Infobox Engineer
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caption = PAGENAME
name = PAGENAME
nationality =
birth_date =27 November 1871
birth_place =Lucca
death_date =19 August 1950
death_place =Castiglioncello ,Livorno
education =
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discipline =
institutions = University of Rome
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significant_projects =SI
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significant_awards =Giovanni Giorgi (
27 November 1871 -19 August 1950 ) was an electrical engineer who invented the Giorgi system of measurement, the precursor to the International System (SI ).Giorgi was born in
Lucca and studied engineering at the Institute of Technology of Rome, and was the director of the Technology Office of Rome between 1906 and 1923. He also taught at the University of Rome between 1913 and 1939.Toward the end of the 19th century, after
James Clerk Maxwell 's discoveries, it was clear that electric measurements could not be explained in terms of the three fundamental units of length, mass and time. Therefore, in 1901, Giorgi proposed to the AEI (Associazione Elettrotecnica Italiana) a new system that had as fundamental units the metre, the kilogram, thesecond and a fourth unit to be chosen from the units of electrotechnology.In 1935 this was adopted by the
IEC as the "Giorgi system", also known as MKSΩ, because the fourth fundamental unit was that ofelectrical resistance , the ohm. In 1960, at the 11th General Conference of Weights and Measures, theSI (International System) was adopted, which was based on seven fundamental units: metre, kilogram,second ,ampere ,kelvin , mole andcandela .Giorgi died in
Castiglioncello ,Livorno at the age of 79.
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