Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants

by James Vincent

Overview

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science & Technology
One of The New Yorker and Economist’s Best Books of the Year

“Quietly thrilling.… The story of humans measuring things is no less than the story of civilization.” —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times Book Review

A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day.

From the cubit to the kilogram, the humble inch to the speed of light, measurement is a powerful tool that humans invented to make sense of the world. In this revelatory work of science and social history, James Vincent dives into its hidden world, taking readers from ancient Egypt, where measuring the annual depth of the Nile was an essential task, to the intellectual origins of the metric system in the French Revolution, and from the surprisingly animated rivalry between metric and imperial, to our current age of the “quantified self.” At every turn, Vincent is keenly attuned to the political consequences of measurement, exploring how it has also been used as a tool for oppression and control.

Beyond Measure reveals how measurement is not only deeply entwined with our experience of the world, but also how its history encompasses and shapes the human quest for knowledge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324066149
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	11/07/2023
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	95,361
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

James Vincent is a senior reporter for the Verge, the Vox Media site devoted to technology and society. He has also written for the London Review of Books, Financial Times, and Wired. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Why measurement matters

1 The kindling of civilisation 21

The ancient world, the first units of measurement, and their cognitive rewards

2 Measure and the social order 51

The importance of metrology for early states and the fabric of society

3 The proper subject of measurement 81

How the scientific revolution expanded measure's domain

4 The quantifying spirit 113

The disenchantment of the world and the history of hot and cold

5 The metric revolution 147

The radical politics of the metric system and its origin in the French Revolution

6 A grid laid across the world 179

The surveying of land, the colonisation of the US, and the power of abstraction

7 Measuring life and death 207

The invention of statistics and the birth of average

8 The Battle of the Standards 241

Metric vs imperial and metrology's culture war

9 For all times, for all people 275

How metric units transcended physical reality and conquered the world

10 The managed life 307

Measurement's place in modern society and in our understanding of ourselves

Epilogue 339

The measures in the head

Acknowledgements 347

Notes 353

List of Permissions 393

Index 395

Editorial Reviews

"An epic story about humankind’s relationship with the physical world. James Vincent is an erudite and perceptive guide, who with energy and skill weaves history, science and reportage into an enthralling tale."

Alex Bellos

"Fascinating.… [A]s an account of the lengths humanity has gone to in the name of measurement, this quirky history is inch-perfect."

Chris Allnutt

"A profound reflection on how we experience and describe the world."

The New Yorker

"A pacy romp through time and space…Beyond Measure documents humanity’s attempts to claw dependable truths from a chaotic universe."

New Scientist - Chris Stokel-Walker

"Vincent’s writing is deft and elegant, and his talent for explaining complex ideas in prose that doesn’t bog or brag is, quite frankly, beyond measure…[H]e has earned his place alongside such masters of explanatory prose as John McPhee, Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond."

Katie Hafner

"Vivid, epic, and full of curiosities. This is a book to delight and fascinate."

Tim Harford

★ 10/03/2022

Vincent, a senior reporter at the Verge, debuts with a phenomenal exploration of measurement, the “cornerstone of cognition” that “has not only made the world we live in, it has made us too.” He starts in ancient Egypt, where each year, citizens gauged the depth of the Nile River’s floodwaters to ascertain whether it would be enough to support a plentiful harvest. To do so, the Egyptians developed giant rulers called nilometers that were carved into columns and walls. Elsewhere, Vincent chronicles how the metric system was developed during the French Revolution by the “country’s intellectual elite,” who “thought that the standardisation of weights and measures would eliminate some of the imbalances of feudal life”; argues that the ability to accurately survey land led to the expansion of the U.S.; and makes a fascinating case that measurements can be used for social control, as with the productivity quotas that are imposed on Amazon workers. Amusing anecdotes abound: for centuries, the kilogram was based on the weight of a “particular lump of metal” locked away in a French vault. Vincent’s running of the rule is brisk and constantly surprising as it makes clear that all measurements derive from human choices and are thus inherently fallible. This one shouldn’t be missed. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"The exact value of this book is hard to quantify. Weighty, precise and satisfyingly obsessive, it’s also an absolute pleasure to read."

Simon Garfield

"Engaging…[A] lively tour of measurement history from the Egyptians and Babylonians through today's disciples of the quantified self."

Wall Street Journal - Timothy Farrington

"Quietly thrilling…The story of humans measuring things is no less than the story of civilization—a claim that sounds like irritating hyperbole but in this case turns out to be true."

New York Times - Jennifer Szalai

"Delightful…One of those books that makes us look afresh at the whole of modern civilization."

Graham Farmelo

"Worth its weight in gold…[M]arries infectious enthusiasm for the science with healthy scepticism about the uses human beings put it to."

The Guardian - Madoc Cairns

"Fascinating…Beyond Measure offers engrossing accounts of the role that measurement has played in scientific progress…Vincent also presents a deep history of measurement's role in society."

Undark - Christie Aschwanden

"A wildly ambitious book by a formidably talented young writer."

Robert Macfarlane

"This book uses a seemingly simple question—How did our units of measurement originate?—to deliver a profound reflection on how we experience and describe the world."

New Yorker

"Beyond Measure offers, with much intellectual flair and style, a bracing new history."

Pankaj Mishra

Quietly thrilling…The story of humans measuring things is no less than the story of civilization.”

New York Times

Worth its weight in gold…[M]arries infectious enthusiasm for the science with healthy scepticism about the uses human beings put it to."

The Guardian (London)

"A fascinating tale of how our modern world came to be."

Lewis Dartnell

This is the first book, first audiobook, and first audiobook narration by British journalist James Vincent, and his history of measurement is informative, enriching, and unexpectedly lively. This is one of those rare audiobooks that makes one look at the world fresh, and whole. For American ears, Vincent’s distinctive British vowels and syllabication may require some adjustment. But his pacing and delivery are very good, and his degree of involvement adds vitality and enthusiasm to a subject that might seem dry but instead proves involving, even personal. The dimensions of the human body—the span, the cubit, the foot—provided the first units of commerce, construction, travel, of civilization itself. Our world is an extension of ourselves in ways we are barely aware. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

This is the first book, first audiobook, and first audiobook narration by British journalist James Vincent, and his history of measurement is informative, enriching, and unexpectedly lively. This is one of those rare audiobooks that makes one look at the world fresh, and whole. For American ears, Vincent’s distinctive British vowels and syllabication may require some adjustment. But his pacing and delivery are very good, and his degree of involvement adds vitality and enthusiasm to a subject that might seem dry but instead proves involving, even personal. The dimensions of the human body—the span, the cubit, the foot—provided the first units of commerce, construction, travel, of civilization itself. Our world is an extension of ourselves in ways we are barely aware. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

2022-08-26
A survey of the history of measurement and how it has shaped human progress.

As journalist Vincent points out, measurement is so ubiquitous that we often don’t even think about it. His journey to the core of the science of creating accurate measurements—known as metrology—is punctuated with odd yet fascinating stops—e.g., Egypt, where, for centuries, people have measured “the bounty of the Nile, a liquid treasure metered out each year in floodwater and fertility”; the Swedish museum that houses the first Celsius thermometer; and a French vault that holds “the kilogram: what it weighs, every kilogram in the world weighs, no more and no less.” The author leads us leisurely through the history of measurement, beginning with the Babylonians, who first saw the usefulness of standardization, and progressing to the Romans, who developed metrics crucial for construction. Standardization was also a tool for control, especially via taxes. Gradually, measurement pushed societies away from faith and aristocracies and toward rationality and commerce. The metric system was a product of the French Revolution, replacing arbitrary measures like “the king’s foot,” and Napoleon was instrumental in spreading it. Most countries have since adopted the metric system, although it has not always been welcome. In the U.S., attempts to metricize measurement have been somewhat half-hearted, and the result is a uniquely mixed system. However, as Vincent shows, in the digital age, the desire to measure things and compile statistics has never been stronger. He discusses the Quantified Self movement, “a loose affiliation of individuals whose pursuit of ‘self-knowledge through numbers’ shows how far we have internalized the logic of measurement.” Vincent takes this no more seriously than he should and points out that standard measurements “are as much the product of accident and happenstance as careful deliberation.” He finds this comforting, an essential aspect of human creativity and the magic of the world.

An engaging book written with intelligence, self-awareness, and wit.

Kirkus Reviews