Millions of transactions each day depend on a reliable network of weights and measures. But achieving such a network was anything but easy, as Robert P. Crease, physicist and philosopher, demonstrates in this endlessly fascinating, always entertaining look at just how this international system evolved. From the link between musical pitch and distance in the dynasties of ancient China and the use of figurines to measure gold in West Africa to the creation of the French metric and British imperial systems, Crease takes readers along on one of history's greatest philosophical and scientific adventures.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Ww Norton & Co
ISBN-10
0393343545
ISBN-13
9780393343540
eBay Product ID (ePID)
128960215
Product Key Features
Author
Robert P. Crease
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Popular Science
Type
Textbook
Dimensions
Weight
250g
Height
211mm
Width
140mm
Additional Product Features
Place of Publication
New York
Spine
20mm
Content Note
35 Illustrations
Author Biography
Robert P. Crease writes the Critical Point column in Physics World and is a professor of philosophy at Stony Brook University. His books include The Great Equations and World in the Balance.