Measure for measure : the story of imperial, metric, and other units / Alex Hebra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hebra, Alex, 1919-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Weights and measures--History.

Weights and measures.

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 215 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Summary:

From the cubit used by Noah to build the ark to the angstrom in spectroscopy, units of measure have been integral to science and engineering. Throughout history, countless systems of measurement have been devised and then discarded as more precise and more logical systems have come along.

Contents:

1 Blessing Our Countings: Units and Numbers 1

2 Going to Great Lengths 23

3 Degrees of Separation: Angles and Solid Angles 35

4 The "Obvious" Unit of Time 53

5 Weighty Matters: Of Mass and Force 61

6 Gravimetric Standards 67

7 The Matter with Mass 74

8 Empire of Light: Luminosity and Intensity 82

9 Hot Stuff: Temperature, Pressure, and Thermodynamics 98

10 The Missing Link: Energy 119

11 Compound Units 141

12 Invasion of Aliens and Nihilists 149

13 The Inter(galactic)net 176

14 Units, Physics, and Mathematics 188.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-210) and index.

ISBN:

0801870720

OCLC:

48965047