World in the balance :
Crease, Robert P.
World in the balance : the historic quest for an absolute system of measurement / Robert P. Crease. - 1st ed. - New York : W.W. Norton, c2011. - 317 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: The noonday cannon -- Vitruvian man -- Ancient China : feet and flutes -- West Africa : gold weights -- France : "realities of life and labor" -- Halting steps toward universality -- "One of the greatest triumphs of modern civilization" -- Metrophilia and metrophobia -- Surely you're joking, Mr. Duchamp! -- Dreams of a final standard -- Universal system : the Si -- The modern metroscape -- Au revoir, kilogram.
Offers the story of the invention of a global network of weights, scales, and instruments for measurement.
9780393072983 (hardcover) 0393072983 (hardcover)
2011029026
015855674 Uk
Weights and measures--History.
Measurement--History.
Metrology.
QC83 / .C74 2011
530.8/1
World in the balance : the historic quest for an absolute system of measurement / Robert P. Crease. - 1st ed. - New York : W.W. Norton, c2011. - 317 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: The noonday cannon -- Vitruvian man -- Ancient China : feet and flutes -- West Africa : gold weights -- France : "realities of life and labor" -- Halting steps toward universality -- "One of the greatest triumphs of modern civilization" -- Metrophilia and metrophobia -- Surely you're joking, Mr. Duchamp! -- Dreams of a final standard -- Universal system : the Si -- The modern metroscape -- Au revoir, kilogram.
Offers the story of the invention of a global network of weights, scales, and instruments for measurement.
9780393072983 (hardcover) 0393072983 (hardcover)
2011029026
015855674 Uk
Weights and measures--History.
Measurement--History.
Metrology.
QC83 / .C74 2011
530.8/1