A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement

A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement by Whitelaw, Ian. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780312370268.

Every wonder how long a cubit really is? How much is in a hogshead and what it refers to? Or the difference between a light year, a parsec and a Planck length? How many pings there are in an acre and who uses which term in what context? Every wonder where all these terms and formats came from and how they are used? Well, wonder no more! In the tradition of Schotts Miscellany, A Measure of All Things is a well-researched page-turning, illustrated look at the way things concrete and theoretical are and have been measured. It ranges from the history of measurement systems (from the earliest times to the present) to the different classes of measurements (length, area, volume, mass, time, temparature, speed, power, energy, pressure and everyday, unscientific measurements). A Measure of All Things covers the origins of the various units of measurement, the ways in which they developed and changed over time, and the many connections between them.