A serious and seriously funny book about weights and measures. It explains what they are, how they come about and how they are formed and shaped by the one guiding principle of measurement that no one ever mentions: that most of us have better things to think about. This is the only book devoted to the mishmash of bodges, estimates and rules-of-thumb that makes up the 'system' of measurement used by most people most of the time and the only book to reveal how they have given rise to traditional measurement systems. You will find out why an old wellington boot is as important an instrument of spacial awareness as was ever invented, why how tired your ox gets, how much water it takes to drown you, and how much you can hold in one hand while doing something else are all essential principals underlying how man has balanced and judged his world since the dawn of time. In part this is a case for the use of Imperial measurement in Britain, but not entirely so: common measures have been used in all societies and ages; the metric system is often adapted to suit them rather than the other way around and Imperial measures themselves are not always a true system of common measurement (the older American version of it is closer).
About the Size of It is a serious, but seriously funny book about measuring things.
Readers will find out why an old Wellington boot is as important an instrument of spacial awareness as was ever invented; why the size of a space shuttle's fuel tanks has more to do with the proportions of a horse's rump than rocket science; and why how tired your ox gets, how much water it takes to drown you, and how much you can hold in one hand while doing something else are all essential principles that explain how man has balanced and judged his world since the dawn of time.
In part a case for the continued use of traditional British measures, this book also celebrates the richness and commonality of systems from around the world, and how they were formed by the one guiding principle of measurement no one ever mentions: that most of us have better things to think about.
'Fun and fascinating - the secrets and tricks of how we measure the world around us' Conn Iggulden
'A full and convincing account of why our well-tried and trusted traditional measures make human sense' Alexander McCall Smith
'His direct, engaging conversational prose is a delight to read... inspirational' Andrew Roberts
'Absolutely masterly. Lucid and wise and touching and absolutely right' Jilly Cooper
- ISBN10 0230225144
- ISBN13 9780230225145
- Publish Date 2 January 2014 (first published 21 September 2007)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Macmillan
- Format eBook
- Language English