Author: Ken Alder
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 074324902X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
In June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator—a standard that would be used “for all people, for all time.” The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history’s greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed—and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.
The Measure of All Things
Author: Ken Alder
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 074324902X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
In June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator—a standard that would be used “for all people, for all time.” The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history’s greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed—and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 074324902X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
In June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator—a standard that would be used “for all people, for all time.” The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history’s greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed—and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.
A Measure of All Things
Author: Ian Whitelaw
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312370268
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
Discusses the origins of standard units of measurement and how they have changed from ancient times to modern day, and describes systems of measurement, including the metric and Imperial systems and the Système International.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312370268
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 172
Book Description
Discusses the origins of standard units of measurement and how they have changed from ancient times to modern day, and describes systems of measurement, including the metric and Imperial systems and the Système International.
The Measure of a Man
Author: Gene A. Getz
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 1493404253
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
More Than a Million Copies Have Been Sold of this Powerful Book for Men, Now Revised for a New Generation For forty years, The Measure of a Man has taught hundreds of thousands of men around the world how to live according to God's direction--faithfully, lovingly, and spiritually. Now revised this classic guide to biblical masculinity is poised to impact a new generation of men. True masculinity is not measured by the strength of a man, but by these twenty biblical guidelines drawn from the Apostle Paul's letters to his young protégés Timothy and Titus. Inspiring, encouraging, and practical, this book shows men how they can reach God's standards as fathers, husbands, and mentors to other men. This updated edition includes QR codes that take the reader to online video resources for further study.
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 1493404253
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261
Book Description
More Than a Million Copies Have Been Sold of this Powerful Book for Men, Now Revised for a New Generation For forty years, The Measure of a Man has taught hundreds of thousands of men around the world how to live according to God's direction--faithfully, lovingly, and spiritually. Now revised this classic guide to biblical masculinity is poised to impact a new generation of men. True masculinity is not measured by the strength of a man, but by these twenty biblical guidelines drawn from the Apostle Paul's letters to his young protégés Timothy and Titus. Inspiring, encouraging, and practical, this book shows men how they can reach God's standards as fathers, husbands, and mentors to other men. This updated edition includes QR codes that take the reader to online video resources for further study.
A Measure of Everything
Author: Marcus Weeks
Publisher: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books
ISBN:
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books
ISBN:
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
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.
Voltaire’s Riddle
Author: Andrew J. Simoson
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470458454
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 397
Book Description
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470458454
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 397
Book Description
Man, the Measure of All Things
Author: Sri Madhava Ashish
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 0835631877
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 427
Book Description
This volume is a study of the symbols of cosmic origins. It throws a new and searching light upon The Stanzas of Dzyan, a little-known collection of cosmogenic verses relating to cosmogenesis as set forth in H. P. Blavatsky’s great work The Secret Doctrine. “We are considering the universe as a tissue of psychic experience,” say the authors. “Our categories are psychic ones, and with their help we have attempted to show that the process of conscious manifestation is entirely a movement within the unity of consciousness being toward the achievement of self-conscious experience.”
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 0835631877
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 427
Book Description
This volume is a study of the symbols of cosmic origins. It throws a new and searching light upon The Stanzas of Dzyan, a little-known collection of cosmogenic verses relating to cosmogenesis as set forth in H. P. Blavatsky’s great work The Secret Doctrine. “We are considering the universe as a tissue of psychic experience,” say the authors. “Our categories are psychic ones, and with their help we have attempted to show that the process of conscious manifestation is entirely a movement within the unity of consciousness being toward the achievement of self-conscious experience.”
Man is the Measure
Author: Reuben Abel
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 143911840X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
An intelligently truthful book that explores the uneven landscape of the human intellect. An accessible introduction to philosophy, this book narrows the gap between the general reader and intellectual inquiry. Its points are illustrated with concrete examples that should call the reader to a higher level of critical thinking and self-perception.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 143911840X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
An intelligently truthful book that explores the uneven landscape of the human intellect. An accessible introduction to philosophy, this book narrows the gap between the general reader and intellectual inquiry. Its points are illustrated with concrete examples that should call the reader to a higher level of critical thinking and self-perception.
The Measure of All Minds
Author: José Hernández-Orallo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316943208
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 632
Book Description
Are psychometric tests valid for a new reality of artificial intelligence systems, technology-enhanced humans, and hybrids yet to come? Are the Turing Test, the ubiquitous CAPTCHAs, and the various animal cognition tests the best alternatives? In this fascinating and provocative book, José Hernández-Orallo formulates major scientific questions, integrates the most significant research developments, and offers a vision of the universal evaluation of cognition. By replacing the dominant anthropocentric stance with a universal perspective where living organisms are considered as a special case, long-standing questions in the evaluation of behavior can be addressed in a wider landscape. Can we derive task difficulty intrinsically? Is a universal g factor - a common general component for all abilities - theoretically possible? Using algorithmic information theory as a foundation, the book elaborates on the evaluation of perceptual, developmental, social, verbal and collective features and critically analyzes what the future of intelligence might look like.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316943208
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 632
Book Description
Are psychometric tests valid for a new reality of artificial intelligence systems, technology-enhanced humans, and hybrids yet to come? Are the Turing Test, the ubiquitous CAPTCHAs, and the various animal cognition tests the best alternatives? In this fascinating and provocative book, José Hernández-Orallo formulates major scientific questions, integrates the most significant research developments, and offers a vision of the universal evaluation of cognition. By replacing the dominant anthropocentric stance with a universal perspective where living organisms are considered as a special case, long-standing questions in the evaluation of behavior can be addressed in a wider landscape. Can we derive task difficulty intrinsically? Is a universal g factor - a common general component for all abilities - theoretically possible? Using algorithmic information theory as a foundation, the book elaborates on the evaluation of perceptual, developmental, social, verbal and collective features and critically analyzes what the future of intelligence might look like.
Sex the Measure of All Things
Author: Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253337344
Category : Sex
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
The life story of the sex researcher whose statistics were so extensive that only ten percent went into his two published books, and most of the data "is still being actively mined today."--Jacket.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253337344
Category : Sex
Languages : en
Pages : 560
Book Description
The life story of the sex researcher whose statistics were so extensive that only ten percent went into his two published books, and most of the data "is still being actively mined today."--Jacket.
The Measure of Things
Author: David E. Cooper
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191543950
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
Philosophers, both western and eastern, have long been divided between 'humanists', for whom 'man is the measure of things', and their opponents, who claim that there is a way, in principle knowable and describable, that the world anyway is, independent of human perspectives and interests. The early chapters of The Measure of Things chart the development of humanism from medieval times, through the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Romantic periods, to its most sophisticated, twentieth-century form, 'existential humanism'. Cooper does not identify this final position with that of any particular philosopher, though it is closely related to those of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and the later Wittgenstein. Among the earlier figures discussed are William of Ockham, Kant, Herder, Nietzsche and William James. Having rejected attempts by contemporary advocates of modest or non-metaphysical realism to dissolve the opposition between humanism and its 'absolutist' rival, Cooper moves on to an adjudication of that rivality. Prompted by the pervasive rhetoric of hubris that the rivals direct against one another, he argues, in an original manner, that the rival positions are indeed guilty of lack of humility. Absolutists - whether defenders of 'The Given' or scientific realists - exaggerate our capacity to ascend out of our 'engaged' perspectives to an objective account of the world. Humanists, conversely, exaggerate our capacity to live without a sense of our subjection to a measure independent of our own perspectives. The only escape, Cooper maintains, from the impasse reached when humanism and absolutism are both rejected, lies in a doctrine of mystery. There is a reality independent of 'the human contribution', but it is necessarily ineffable. Drawing in a novel way upon the Buddhist conception of 'emptiness' and Heidegger's later writings, the final chapters defend the notion of mystery, distinguish the doctrine advanced from that of transcendental idealism, and propose that it is only through appreciation of mystery that measure and warrant may be provided for our beliefs and conduct.
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191543950
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
Philosophers, both western and eastern, have long been divided between 'humanists', for whom 'man is the measure of things', and their opponents, who claim that there is a way, in principle knowable and describable, that the world anyway is, independent of human perspectives and interests. The early chapters of The Measure of Things chart the development of humanism from medieval times, through the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Romantic periods, to its most sophisticated, twentieth-century form, 'existential humanism'. Cooper does not identify this final position with that of any particular philosopher, though it is closely related to those of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and the later Wittgenstein. Among the earlier figures discussed are William of Ockham, Kant, Herder, Nietzsche and William James. Having rejected attempts by contemporary advocates of modest or non-metaphysical realism to dissolve the opposition between humanism and its 'absolutist' rival, Cooper moves on to an adjudication of that rivality. Prompted by the pervasive rhetoric of hubris that the rivals direct against one another, he argues, in an original manner, that the rival positions are indeed guilty of lack of humility. Absolutists - whether defenders of 'The Given' or scientific realists - exaggerate our capacity to ascend out of our 'engaged' perspectives to an objective account of the world. Humanists, conversely, exaggerate our capacity to live without a sense of our subjection to a measure independent of our own perspectives. The only escape, Cooper maintains, from the impasse reached when humanism and absolutism are both rejected, lies in a doctrine of mystery. There is a reality independent of 'the human contribution', but it is necessarily ineffable. Drawing in a novel way upon the Buddhist conception of 'emptiness' and Heidegger's later writings, the final chapters defend the notion of mystery, distinguish the doctrine advanced from that of transcendental idealism, and propose that it is only through appreciation of mystery that measure and warrant may be provided for our beliefs and conduct.