Author(s): Ian Whitelaw

Science

<b><i>A Measure of all Things</i> discovers the means that humankind has employed to impose order on the world.</b> It is about the systems of measurement that enable us not only to trade in commonly understood amounts and to construct buildings according to agreed standards, but also to investigate, understand, and control the chemical, physical and biological processes of the natural world, to develop explanatory hypotheses and predictive theories. Our units are derived from the proportions of the human body, from natural objects such as barely grains, and from accidents of history. Some units of measurement paradoxically have their origins in the very nature of energy and matter, in the actual phenomena that we seek to measure, and some even define the limits of what we can measure. In <i>A Measure of all Things</i> you will discover the origins of our units of measurement, the ways in which they have developed and changed over time, and the many connections between them. Together they give us a handle on the scale of the Universe, a set of tools that enable us to think in detail about the physical world and extend our knowledge.