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World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement - Hardcover

Crease, Robert P.

 
9780393072983: World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0393072983 ISBN 13: 9780393072983
Verlag: Norton, 2011

Inhaltsangabe

Millions of transactions each day depend on a reliable network of weights and measures. This network has been called a greater invention than the steam engine, comparable only to the development of the printing press.Robert P. Crease traces the evolution of this international system from the use of flutes to measure distance in the dynasties of ancient China and figurines to weigh gold in West Africa to the creation of the French metric and British imperial systems. The former prevailed, with the United States one of three holdout nations. Into this captivating history Crease weaves stories of colorful individuals, including Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of the metric system, and American philosopher Charles S. Peirce, the first to tie the meter to the wavelength of light. Tracing the dynamic struggle for ultimate precision, World in the Balance demonstrates that measurement is both stranger and more integral to our lives than we ever suspected.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Robert P. Crease is the chairman of the philosophy department at Stony Brook University and the author of several books on science, including The Quantum Moment and The Great Equations. He lives in New York City.

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Verlag
Norton
Erscheinungsdatum
2011
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0393072983
ISBN 13 
9780393072983
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
320
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