Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement
“We measure rainfall and radiation, the depths of space and the emptiness of atoms, calories and steps, happiness and pain. But how did measurement become ubiquitous in modern life? When did humanity first take up scales and rulers, and why does this practice hold authority over so many aspects of our lives?”
- “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.” The New Yorker
- “Worth its weight in gold […] Vincent is a nimble storyteller, and a sympathetic one: his sensitivity to the human drama at work behind the grand theories is particularly visible in his treatment of the chaotic centuries before standardisation […] Vincent marries infectious enthusiasm for the science with healthy scepticism about the uses human beings put it to.” The Guardian
- “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. With this, his first book of nonfiction, he has earned his place alongside such masters of explanatory prose as John McPhee, Steven Pinker and Jared Diamond.” The Washington Post
- “Vincent’s quirky history of metrology offers a fascinating exploration of how our idiosyncratic systems of measurement have made us who we are […] as an account of the lengths humanity has gone to in the name of measurement, this quirky history is inch-perfect” The Financial Times
- “A delight […] an erudite and elegant read, challenging in parts but highly accessible, and Vincent’s enthusiasm overcomes any difficulties in understanding such areas as relativity, thermodynamics and quantum physics. Delightful.” The Mail on Sunday
- “This superb history of measurement reveals the strange and inventive ways we have quantified the world around us.” The Times
- “Phenomenal […] This one shouldn’t be missed” Publishers Weekly
- “Beyond Measure is a science and technology story, but it also tells a broader tale about humanity’s progress and pitfalls throughout history […] The success of this book lies in Vincent’s ability to connect stories of measurement with human history.” Science
- “Vincent has an eye for fascinating facts, but also a deeper purpose: the story he tells is one in which control has always been bound up with the drive to measure and to collect data.” The Times Literary Supplement
- “Beyond Measure is a hugely ambitious work encompassing a vast sweep of scientific progress and human endeavour, from the evolution of numbers to the construction of the pyramids, the Industrial Revolution and, more recently, the precise redefinition of the metre as equating to 1,650,763.73 times the wavelength of light; and the kilogram as … well, something to do with electrical forces and the formula, m = hf/c2.” The Herald Scotland
- “Fascinating […] Beyond Measure offers engrossing accounts of the role that measurement has played in scientific progress.” UnDark
- “A pacy romp through time and space, moving from ancient Egyptians with their body-centric measuring systems to present-day scientists seeking to standardise measurement. But it isn’t just the stories of the rule-makers: measurement has been as much about dispute as diktat, and Vincent explains how important the standardisation of weights and measures was and is for all of us.” New Scientist