Editorial Review:
A comprehensive reference and history book on what is measured and why. Measurement is one of humankind's oldest and most vital activities. By measuring height, speed, size, temperature, strength and many other factors, humans can compare, improve and progress. In fact, measurement is an essential tool for survival. A Measure of Everything is a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide to what is measured and why. The book begins when the basic measurements were as simple as more, less and enough. As societies evolved, relative measurements were no longer sufficient. Advances in language allowed more precise measurements. Short distances were measured in relation to parts of the human body. For example, the ancient measurement cubit was the length of a pharaoh's arm plus the width of his hand. As society and culture progress and change, so do measurements. The rise of astronomy and the sciences demanded more exact measurements. These measurements are typically named after the discovering scientist, e.g., henry, curie, watt, rutherford, fahrenheit. This book features 28 categories organized into three sections: - Earth and Life Sciences: astronomy, distance, time, meteorology, medicine, and five others.
- Physical Sciences: chemistry, mathematics, physics, speed, weight, temperature, and three others.
- Technology and Leisure: computers, engineering, finance, food, textiles, and four others.
A Measure of Everything is an informative and entertaining book that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
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Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 
A treasure for the scientifically curious  2007-06-03
I bought this book that request of my 8-year old daughter, but have enjoyed thumbing through it myself.
To be sure, it is a dictionary of scientific measurement, not an encyclopaedia; yet almost all of the pages contain an illustration, chart, or graph of some kind.
The definitions are arranged by groupings: earth and life sciences, physical sciences, and Technology & leisure. Subheadings include such categories as astronomy, electricity, and music.
Having purchased this book, I do now rather with that there was an encyclopedia version of the same subject. The section on 'Time and Calendar', for instance, mostly just notes the Jewish, Gregorian, Islamic, and Hindu calendars with a passing nod at the Chinese and Egyptian calendar.
On the other hand, you can still scratch a lot of curious itches: "How do they determine what an 'era' is?" "Just what is Newtonian Time?" (Yes, I know, it's kept you up at night too...)
The book is most likely of interest to the generally curious, information nerds, and those with inquisitive children who enjoy learning more about the world around them. A decent reference book on its topic.
P.S. A last note: a dictionary format rather than an encyclopedia does allow the book to be small enough to carry about and read in a chair by smaller hands, something my daughter can't do with our Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
Redundant Material -Word processed mostly from a few Sources  2006-03-01
Little in this book casts any light on the "Science of Measurment". In reality it is an endless list of definitions of words and terminolgy, the vast majority of which can be found in any good dictionary. This work tells you that an "Ocean-(is) a huge geographical mass of salt water" (pg 191). Whoa, be still my heart. That's informative.
The author(s) lifted definitions from the English dictionary, a medical dictionary, and the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics for most of the text. The remaining entries are definitions of totally unimportant achaic terms.
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