At the meeting of the British Association held in York in 1881, with Sir William Thomson present, the delegates discussed the forthcoming Inter national Electrical Congress to be held in Paris. The firm hope was expressed 'that other nations might agree to the system of units and standards which the British Association Committees had evolved, chiefly under Thomson's inspiration since 1862'. That autumn, Thomson crossed over to Paris as one of the British members forming part of the 250 delegates from 28 countries represented at the Congress, which lasted from 15 September to 19 October 1881. The Electrical Exhibition held at the same time as the Congress was an outstanding success and drew electrical contractors from all parts of the world including the United States. For the first time in Europe, the nearly one million visitors were able to see all that the electrical industry could provide in the way of lighting, telegraphy and telephone systems.

Inspec keywords: units (measurement); measurement systems; measurement standards

Other keywords: electrical contractors; telegraphy; electrical industry; international electrical congress; standards system; telephone system; British Association; lighting; units system

Subjects: Measurement standards and calibration