Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants by James Vincent is a vivid history of our obsession with classification and counting. We’re the only species that does it.
The Egyptians used a ‘nilometre’ to gauge the depths of the river’s floodwaters. The development of writing and numbers offered dramatic new ways to measure. The simple list, which allows us to chunk information into manageable, discrete visions, was “cognitive dynamite”.
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