Apparently commission the French scientific unit (5)
I believe the answer is:
tesla
'unit' is the definition.
(tesla is a kind of unit)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tesla that I've seen before include "SI unit; steal (anag.)" , "Inventive sort" , "electrical unit" , "American scientist" , "Inventor" .)