Lord Kelvin said, "When you can measure what you are
speaking about and express it in numbers, you know
something about it ; but when you cannot measure it,
when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is
a meager and unsatisfactory thing ; it [is only] the
beginning of knowledge..." (From: Popular Lectures
and Addresses 1891-1894)

Today, doctors do not routinely measure much - as a
matter of course. There is a casualness about the
importance of measuring.
	Even the subspecialist, who may measure
ejection fractions with his or her special tools, may
not also measure the exact duration of the QRS complex
on EKG or the direction of the electrical forces in
that EKG.
	In other words, measuring is done when the doctor
is interested, but not unless the doctor is interested.

I believe that we should measure when we can - it makes
us better thinkers and communicators. However, we don't
need to measure the depth of the Grand Canyon to know it
is a really big ditch.

From: Dr. J. Willis Hurst
Consultant of the Division of Cardiology
Emory University School of Medicine
Former Professor and Chairman of the Dept of Medicine 1957-1986