Re: gauge invariance

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

I wrote
> > The word "gauge" has a quite a cluster of meanings, mostly clustered
> > around the notion of "a way of measuring".

At 05:17 PM 3/1/01 -0800, James G. Pengra wrote:

>    I read somewhere that the concept got its name from "gauge blocks"
> which are precisely machined blocks used by machinists and others to
> establish precise distances. They are made in different sizes so they
> can be stacked to obtain a variety of distance intervals.

That sounds kinda backwards to me.  The word "gauge" has been applied to
the general notion of measuring since the 15th century:
  http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=gauge
whereas gauge blocks (a particular way of measuring) did not appear on the
scene until the late 19th century and weren't at all common until the 20th
century:
  http://www.cej.se/about_company/quality/quality_main.html