need for, and interest in, the ability to measure small things and small differences. The word was no doubt coined in reference to this endeavor, even if it did not refer specifically to its present-day senses.

The London Science Museum contains an exhibit "James Watt's end measuring instrument with micrometer screw, 1776" which the science museum claims is probably the first screw micrometer made. This instrument is intended to measure items very accurately by placing them between the