  For over a century the definitions of mass and derivations of its relation
with energy continue to be elaborated, demonstrating that the concept of mass
is still not satisfactorily understood. The aim of this study is to show that,
starting from the properties of Minkowski spacetime and from the principle of
least action, energy expresses the property of inertia of a body. This implies
that inertial mass can only be the object of a definition - the so called
mass-energy relation - aimed at measuring energy in different units, more
suitable to describe the huge amount of it enclosed in what we call the
"rest-energy" of a body. Likewise, the concept of gravitational mass becomes
unnecessary, being replaceable by energy, thus making the weak equivalence
principle intrinsically verified. In dealing with mass, a new unit of
measurement is foretold for it, which relies on the de Broglie frequency of
atoms, the value of which can today be measured with an accuracy of a few parts
in 10^9.
