Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

A Fun and Exciting Book on Measurement

I got this book at a library first, but I liked it so much that I bought it.

If you are at all interested in how things are measured or where they got the idea for such and such way to measure something than I recommend you simply buy this fun book.

I keep it in my classroom for my students to read when they get done early.They like it too.Nicely illustrated, easy to access.

As with the other reviewer
I'll just add on page 58 on the topic of Winchester Measure, "a volume of eight pounds of wheat", is in Troy pounds which the author does not mention. Troy pounds are a bit heavier than avoirdupois pounds, as in this case 8 pounds is equivalent to 6.9 pounds avoirdupois. A quibble, but I like minutiae.

It's difficult to fault the author, as anyone who delves into antiquated measures and their relations to one another knows a comprehensive discussion would involve a tenfold increase in the page count and subsequent price of the book.

A good starter book for those who wish to delve deeper.

Broad in scope but shallow in depth.Barely worth the money
I have mixed feeling about "A Measure of All Things" by Ian Whitelaw, and I think Whitelaw does also.In the Epilogue he is rather apologetic for the limited depth of the book.Over 300 interesting and widely different measurements are covered (good), but the coverage is inconsistent in quality (not so good).

In some cases the writer mentions interesting facts, but gives no explanation.For example, thickness gauges often measure decreasing thickness as the gauge number increases, the opposite of what one might expect.He mentions one possible explanation in passing, but why not find out the real reason and tell us?He also lists model railway scales as "O", "OO", "N", "T" and so on, but does not explain how those designations came about.

In another place he describes the names for wine bottles - magnum, jeroboam etc, but says nothing about who chose such names and when.

Similarly, the story of how prefixes like "yotta" and "zepto" got their names is interesting, but you won't find the story in this book.

These examples aptly illustrate the shallowness of the book.A myriad of interesting topics are presented in convenient "bites" so that readers can graze, rather than actually read the book.

Some readers may prefer that approach. But I think most readers want more than just snippets of raw information in a book of this nature.We want information that has been analysed and put into perspective, with comparisons made and conclusions drawn.

Then information becomes knowledge, something more than just the sum of individual facts.It is also what separates good writers from clerks trawling through Google search results.

I was also surprised that Whitelaw did not mention the most spectacular recent example illustrating the need to get units of measurement right.NASA officials found that the $125 million Mars Polar Orbiter launched some years ago burned up on impact with the thin Martian atmosphere because two navigation teams and their computers had confused English and metric units.

There are errors on page 115.Whitelaw says that a body in free fall under the influence of gravity experiences no forces.That is incorrect.A body in free fall accelerates due to the force of gravity.He then gives a wrong explanation for the "vomit comet" used by NASA to simulate weightlessness.Weightlessness occurs at the top of a carefully flown arc, not as the plane accelerates downwards as Whitelaw says.

The book is only 160 pages, much of it diagrams, so there was plenty of scope for more explanatory material to be included.In fact, if you took out the diagrams, there are probably only 60 or so pages of text, making it more of a pamphlett than a book.The paper is thick, presumably to add bulk and fool the buyer into thinking he has received value for money.

The use of diagrams and graphical flourishes is grossly overdone, probably to pad out the book to an almost-respectable size.An acre is described at length in the text on the measurement of area, so there is hardly any need for a large diagram of a bare rectangle to show the proportions of an acre.

The colour for the text has been poorly chosen.Instead of the usual black print one is accustomed to see, the publishers have chosen a dark bluish-grey font.It is readable (but uncomfortable) in good daylight, but difficult to read in anything but the brightest artificial light.

The font and the graphic design with all its diagrams look good, but aesthetic factors seem to have triumphed over content.

The bottom line:Broad in scope but shallow in depth.Barely worth the money.

A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement
The font and faded color of the text makes this book pratically illegible. Depending upon the material and presentation (Column or full page) I read between 900 and 1200 words per minute (WPM). For this book my reading speed is probably below 300 WPM, which is about the speed I am able to read from a conputer monitor. Will probably donate the book unread to the next charity book drive.

A Fascinating Romp Through the World of Measurement
When I first leafed through this book, I got the impression that it was simply a listing of various units used in the measurement of various quantities. However, upon closer examination, I realized that it was much more that. For each of the various units that are discussed, the author gives its historical origin, its evolution and its current standing. In eleven chapters, the author covers everything from length, area and volume to energy, radioactivity and lasers. The last chapter covers miscellaneous topics such as the perceived hotness of chili peppers, the hardness of various materials and ring sizes. The writing style is very clear, authoritative and friendly. Although anyone would be fascinated by this book, it would likely be most enjoyed by science buffs - especially those with a passion for the physical sciences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Uneven, but on balance useful and interesting
The structure of this book leads to a certain unevenness, which detracts from the book. Each chapter is an independent essay, and reads like it -- there is no consistency of approach so one gets chapters which are matter-of-factly in a historical or scientific vein and others which are rather mystical. The one thing that ties them all together is a favorable attitude (hard to find these days!) to our customary weights and measures (both the US customary system and the British Imperial system, which as explained in the book are similar but not identical).

So many books on weights and measures tend to take the attitude that the old customary systems need to be scrapped in favor of the "modern" SI. The essays in this book show the logical nature of the customary measures, and help redress the balance.

The author of the book was (may still be, but I do not have indication) president of the British Weights and Measures Association, and can be assumed to be accurately informed on the subject matter. I am rather glad to see that American differences from British practice seem to be accurately treated, and unlike some British publications treated with equal coverage.

This is a subject that greatly interests me; I have myself written a book, "Units and Measurement Systems" so I have examined this book closely. And all in all, I recommend the book, though it might be good to pass over some of the more "mystical" chapters. ... Read more

Product Description
Weights and measures being small antique objects with a background of great interest, have become an ideal and popular subject for the collector. The story of how they came to be used and developed is a long and fascinating one and this book not only tells that story but provides much information for collectors. In addition to their history, the book explains the reasons for the shapes, sizes and materials in which weights and measures are found. It also considers the legal controls exercised over the use of weights and measures and how these add to the interest of collecting. The many illustrations of verification stamps will assist collectors to identify and perhaps date examples in their own collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Worth weighing up
This is an excellent introduction and reference for the novice collector - interesting, wide-ranging, informative and brief (just 32 pages in all).Same is true for the simple but clear black and white plates.The best feature is the listing of verification marks and official stamp numbers in the final pages. And perhaps in a future revision we will see a complete listing of all stamp numbers from vintage to present-day. ... Read more

Product Description
Mankind has a fascination with measurement. Down the centuries we have produced a plethora of incompatible and duplicatory systems for measuring everything from the width of an Egyptian pyramid to the concentration of radioactivity near a nuclear reactor and the value of the fine structure constant. With the introduction first of the metric system and of its successor the Système International d'Unités (SI), the scientific community has established a standard method of measurement based on only seven core units.

The ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF SCIENTIFIC UNITS, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES converts the huge variety of units from all over the world in every period of recorded history into units of the SI.

Featuring:* An A - Z of conversion tables for over 10,000 units of measurements.* Tables of the fundamental constants of nature with their units.* Listings of professional societies, and national standardization bodies for easy reference.* An extensive bibliography detailing further reading on the multifarious aspects of measurement and its units.

This huge work is simply a "must have" for any reference library frequented by scientists of any discipline or by those with historical interests in units of measurement such as archaeologists.

SOME PRAISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION:

NEW SCIENTIST"If you tire of flicking through piles of textbooks looking for the formulas for converting noggins into litres or foot-pound-force per hour into megawatts, do not despair. Chuck out the lot and buy SCIENTIFIC UNIT CONVERSION by Francois Cardarelli which claims to contain every scientific unit ever used ... All weights, volumes, powers, areas, field strengths - you name it, it's here. A gem for engineers, scientists, historians, journalists ..."

CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY"This is a really extraordinary book ... thanks to an excellent, judiciously condensed method of presentation, permits the conversion into metric units of any type of measure." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A wonderful resource
About five years ago I reviewed a book called "Measure for Measure," by Thomas J. Glover, and gave it 4 stars. In it I said:

"[I] would recommend it with just one reservation.

Unfortunately, the authors were somewhat arbitrary in deciding which units any particular one would be converted to. If I had written this book, I would have included at least the following for each unit: (1) All other units in the SAME system (i. e., if we are talking about a pre-revolutionary French unit of length, all other pre-revolutionary French units of length) and (2) the nearest-sized SI unit. Unfortunately they frequently leave out conversions between units of the same system that would be useful, and often units of the same approximate size are converted to different SI units, making comparisons difficult. (For example, one foot-size unit may be expressed as so many centimeters, while another as such a fraction of a meter.)

Both of these omissions can be circumvented by using a calculator and working with what these authors have chosen to include, but the book would be easier to use if they had done what I would have."

This book gets its fifth star primarily because it has the feature that I said _should_ have been in Glover's book. It is more comprehensive as well. With these factors, if Glover's book got four stars, this book _has_ to get 5. It has everything I loved in Glover's book, without the shortcomings.

The book is not quite perfect; it has three "atomic mass units" listed (based on C-12, O-16, and H-1) but fails to include the old chemical atomic mass unit I grew up with (based on the abundance-weighted average of the oxygen isotopes), but it is so much more comprehensive than any other book that I still have to recommend it as the best.

only conversion reference you will ever need
Tired of looking through books to find the correct conversion factor to another unit?Well, so was I.Since I deal with international engineering contracts, this book saves a great deal of time.It is extremely well formatted and easy to use.This book not only has the usual units, but also Japanese, and ancient systems as well.You won't need any other book - ever.The author challenges you to find a unit not listed, and send it to him for inclusion in the next edition.That alone should give you an idea of how thorough it is!This is a must for any technical field.Well organized, and well worth the price of the book.A real bargin.Also, fun to read.It gives the approved units for various systems, and states which ones are on the phase-out.Good to know if you are doing technical writing, and need to keep your units within the standards listed. ... Read more

Product Description
The complexity of medieval & modern pre-metric weights & measures (W&M) in Britain presents an obstacle to scholarly res. on Western European econ. history. The problem is: the approx. dimensions of many non-standardized measuring units, used by both the Crown & the regional & local markets, varied from time to time & from place to place; & the dimensions even of standard W&M used in any period are poorly understood. This book will clarify the confusion & bring a new focus to the field of metrology & a new understanding of the units. It includes: tables for rapid identification of all ruling English, Scottish, Irish, or Welsh sovereigns; current English Imperial, Amer. Customary, & metric units; & the basic equiv. for these W&M; & A Dict. of Brit. W&M. ... Read more

Product Description
This the first book to describe the system of weights and measures used in medieval Scotland and to explain its evolution into modern times, and also the first to provide secure and accurate figures for the sizes of the units. The book's radical approach includes an emphasis on the physical evidence from surviving measurement standards, and it demonstrates that Scotland's meteorology was sophisticated and was closely involved with those of her trading partners. The book will appeal to a specialist market that includes social, economic and science historians; Scottish historians; weight and scale collectors; museums; and science and technology libraries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating minimalism
Richard Serra's Weight and Measure drawings are absolutely fascinating minimalist statements (although, like most examples of minimalism, they certainly aren't for every taste).As their name implies, they are notemotional expressions (like the work of Rothko) or heavily-distilledversions of real images (like many of Ellsworth Kelly's pictures). Instead,they seem to follow Donald Judd's dictum that a size, volume, or shape issomething of itself; what to make of that something is largely up to theviewer.I, personally, love the way that the huge (often 10 feet tall)drawings are smooth and calming from a distance, but turn out to have aharsh and earthy texture when the viewer moves to a closer location. Unfortunately, this is not visible in a book of small reproductions such asthis one.(I wish that the authors had included a detail of one of theworks.)Sometimes, you just have to see the real artwork for yourself. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: [Washington, Govt. print. off.Publication date: 1891Subjects: CoinageWeights and measuresNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Weights and Measures," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Weights and Measures in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Weights and Measures when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Weights and Measures, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Delve into what it was like to live during the eighteenth century by reading the first-hand accounts of everyday people, including city dwellers and farmers, businessmen and bankers, artisans and merchants, artists and their patrons, politicians and their constituents. Original texts make the American, French, and Industrial revolutions vividly contemporary.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification:
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Library of Congress

N005217



London : printed for John Noon, 1740. [16],479,[1]p.,tables ; 8° ... Read more

Product Description
Compares and explains weights and measures throughout the world as well as the history of many current standards. ... Read more