The Royal Society of Tasmania

The advancement of knowledge

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Measurement for All Times, for All People

The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to its June 2025 Public Lecture by guest speakers Drs Jan Herrmann and Sara Morawetz. All RST members, their guests, and the public are welcome.

Where: Geology Lecture Theatre, UTAS, Sandy Bay Campus on Sunday 1 June, 2025.

Time: 3.30pm for pre-lecture drinks, 4pm for the lecture.

Measurements are everywhere around us. People have measured things since times immemorial to help make sense of the world. Measurements can be powerful tools for driving scientific discoveries and technological innovation. Their results inform decisions in almost every sphere of human endeavour, and quantum theory tells us that the very act of measurement is changing the world.

Join metrologist Dr Jan Herrmann and artist Dr Sara Morawetz for a reflection on the history and future of measurement as we commemorate the signing of the Metre Convention (more information here) 150 years ago that established the foundations for how we take the world’s measure today – ‘for all times, for all people’.

Dr Jan Herrmann (L) and artist Dr Sara Morawetz (R).

Dr Jan Herrmann is responsible for the physical measurement capabilities at Australia’s National Measurement Institute (NMI). From atomic clocks to quantum electrical standards, from ultra-precision microscopes exploring the nanoscale to lightning generators testing high-voltage transmission components, the Institute’s scientists and engineers help ensure that measurements in Australia are accurate, fit-for-purpose and internationally recognised. 

Dr Sara Morawetz is a conceptual artist whose research-based, interdisciplinary practice reflects critically and poetically on the matter and methods of science. Interested in the systems and structures that shape how we see and what we know, her work interrogates scientific and cultural apparatus that convey precision, accuracy and determinacy, yet remain slippery, speculative and whimsical when ‘tested in the field.’ Her projects involve collaborations with scientists from MIT, NASA and NIST, and her work has been exhibited throughout Australia and internationally.