Weighing devices are among man’s most important inventions. The earliest civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley had uniform systems of weights and measures. The history of commerce can be traced back to these systems. Balances were in use in Mesopotamia as early as 4000 BC. For modern man, weighing and measuring play an essential role in our daily lives. Shortly after birth we are weighed, and from that point on, our bodies, the food we eat and all the products we use are weighed and measured at some stage in their development.