One of my favorite electrical quotes goes something like "all sensors are temperature sensors, but some are better than others". Unfortunately, I don't remember where I read this. What is the origin of the quote?
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2Should be "all circuits are temperature sensors..." – The Photon Jul 19 '18 at 21:20
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2Just claim it as your own. – Andy aka Jul 19 '18 at 21:26
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No idea, but it's a good one. – Robert Endl Jul 19 '18 at 21:37
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All components are temperature sensors.. but some are better than others. You can attribute it to me if you like, I've certainly said that. – Spehro Pefhany Jul 19 '18 at 21:42
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2spark gap components are harder to calibrate for temp. especially the grid protection ones. – Tony Stewart EE75 Jul 19 '18 at 21:52
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2Can you explain what this quote means? Why are all sensors temperature sensors? – littleO Jul 20 '18 at 06:27
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2@littleO Because we haven't found a material yet to make sensor out of that doesn't change properties with changing temperature. – DonFusili Jul 20 '18 at 07:36
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Many sensors also detect switching power supply spikes and ripple quite easily. Few integrated circuits can reject 10MHz or 100MHz edges riding atop the "DC" power pin. – analogsystemsrf Jul 22 '18 at 23:26
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Whoever said it probably did so in person, and the odds that any of us met the true first person are low. This is the sort of engineering observation that could have been invented by several different people back in 1940, for all we know.
Elecia White's 2011 Making Embedded Systems quotes this anonymously, so the latest possibility is 2010. Her PowerPoint also has:
All sensors are temperature sensors, some measure other things as well.
An alternative, suggesting some divergence:
It has been said that all sensors are temperature sensors first.
This follows the broader observation that no real-world physical relationship or behavior is truly, fully linear across the range of all possibility. For electronic sensors, temperature is big, but humidity, pressure and acceleration pop up surprisingly often. You could say that the best sensor for one phenomenon is just exceptionally bad at sensing all the others - because anything that interacts with it does something.
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2Thank you for identifying the source, I did read it from Elicia White's book in a blurb from Chapter 6. As you said, it is anonymous, so only Elicia could answer who actually said it (who might know who said it before that). Also, I enjoy your perspective that good sensors are simultaneously bad sensors. – Dan Kowalczyk Jul 19 '18 at 23:25