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Author: James Vincent Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 1324035862 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 424
Book Description
A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day. From the cubit to the kilogram, the humble inch to the speed of light, measurement is a powerful tool that humans invented to make sense of the world. In this revelatory work of science and social history, James Vincent dives into its hidden world, taking readers from ancient Egypt, where measuring the annual depth of the Nile was an essential task, to the intellectual origins of the metric system in the French Revolution, and from the surprisingly animated rivalry between metric and imperial, to our current age of the “quantified self.” At every turn, Vincent is keenly attuned to the political consequences of measurement, exploring how it has also been used as a tool for oppression and control. Beyond Measure reveals how measurement is not only deeply entwined with our experience of the world, but also how its history encompasses and shapes the human quest for knowledge.
Author: James Vincent Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 1324035862 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 424
Book Description
A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day. From the cubit to the kilogram, the humble inch to the speed of light, measurement is a powerful tool that humans invented to make sense of the world. In this revelatory work of science and social history, James Vincent dives into its hidden world, taking readers from ancient Egypt, where measuring the annual depth of the Nile was an essential task, to the intellectual origins of the metric system in the French Revolution, and from the surprisingly animated rivalry between metric and imperial, to our current age of the “quantified self.” At every turn, Vincent is keenly attuned to the political consequences of measurement, exploring how it has also been used as a tool for oppression and control. Beyond Measure reveals how measurement is not only deeply entwined with our experience of the world, but also how its history encompasses and shapes the human quest for knowledge.
Author: Jannie Møller Hartley Publisher: Policy Press ISBN: 1529228638 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 216
Book Description
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence This book addresses new challenges to the formation of publics in datafied democracies. It proposes a fresh, complex and nuanced approach to understand 'datapublics' by considering datafication and public formation in the context of audience, journalism and infrastructure studies. The tightly woven chapters shed new light on how platforms, algorithms and their data infrastructure are embedded in journalistic values, discourses and practices, opening up new conditions for publics to display agency, mobilize and achieve legitimacy. This is a seminal contribution to debates about the future of media, journalism and civic practices.
Author: John Bemelmans Marciano Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: 160819941X Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 418
Book Description
The intriguing tale of why the United States has never adopted the metric system, and what that says about us. The American standard system of measurement is a unique and odd thing to behold with its esoteric, inconsistent standards: twelve inches in a foot, three feet in a yard, sixteen ounces in a pound, one hundred pennies to the dollar. For something as elemental as counting and estimating the world around us, it seems like a confusing tool to use. So how did we end up with it? Most of the rest of the world is on the metric system, and for a time in the 1970s America appeared ready to make the switch. Yet it never happened, and the reasons for that get to the root of who we think we are, just as the measurements are woven into the ways we think. John Marciano chronicles the origins of measurement systems, the kaleidoscopic array of standards throughout Europe and the thirteen American colonies, the combination of intellect and circumstance that resulted in the metric system's creation in France in the wake of the French Revolution, and America's stubborn adherence to the hybrid United States Customary System ever since. As much as it is a tale of quarters and tenths, it is a human drama, replete with great inventors, visionary presidents, obsessive activists, and science-loving technocrats. Anyone who reads this inquisitive, engaging story will never read Robert Frost's line “miles to go before I sleep” or eat a foot-long sub again without wondering, Whatever happened to the metric system?
Author: Jessica Riddell Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP ISBN: 0228020697 Category : Education Languages : en Pages : 187
Book Description
How do we model abundance and generosity – in teaching, in learning, in leading organizations, particularly non-profits – when dealing with fiscal austerity and other forms of scarcity thinking? Hope Circuits explores this question, presenting sophisticated ideas that support democratizing higher education for everybody. Written in a conversational style that draws upon Jessica Riddell’s experience in governance, senior administration, and scholarship, the book is a how-to guide and thought leadership manifesto for developing the conceptual tools to seek solutions to higher education’s most pressing issues. Hope Circuits aims to rewire mindsets, perspectives, and behaviours to in turn rewire and renew the systems within which university stakeholders learn, live, and work. It tackles this challenging feat by suggesting ten tools to build hope circuits, a concept borrowed from neuroscience. Riddell acknowledges that changing systems and deep cultures is not for the faint of heart; indeed, the more than 250 interviews conducted with thought partners for Hope Circuits expose how individuals who navigate complex systems regularly experience discomfort and even despair. In response, she shows us how to anchor a practice of hope in higher education with focus and intention, inviting others to adopt and adapt her approach.
Author: Roland A Boucher Publisher: ISBN: 9781480895362 Category : Languages : en Pages : 108
Book Description
The Sumerians were not the only ones to reate remarkably accurate standards of measurement in the Ancient world. Some would travel to the ends of the Earth, some would be with us still today. Roland A. Boucher, a licensed professional engineer, examines incredible achievements of the past in this book that highlights standards of measure from the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Minoans, and others. The Sumerians left two wonderful monuments which demonstrate their system of measurement. The Great Pyramid at Giza, which was built to Sumerian standards with an error of only 185 parts per million; and The Parthenon, in Athens, built 2000 years later to the same Sumerian standard. Filled with tables, formulas, and images to promote the understanding of the mathematical concepts involved, this book celebrates the achievements of the Sumerians and other ancient civilizations. Embark on a journey of discovery as the author recreates eight additional standards from the distant past.
Author: Mathias Fink Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 3540416676 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 352
Book Description
In this interdisciplinary book, leading experts in underwater acoustics, seismology, acoustic medical imaging and non-destructive testing present basic concepts as well as the recent advances in imaging. The different subjects tackled show significant similarities.
Author: Amy Jussel Publisher: ISBN: 9781954361010 Category : Languages : en Pages : 34
Book Description
Join a playful pack of digital dogs while building privacy & data protection skills! When Lucy's beloved dog bones suddenly disappear, she sets out with her pup pals to solve the mystery only to discover she's been over-sharing some digital data herself without even knowing it! Snuffles barked, "Wait! Hold up... Is that a tracker on your collar I see? That could be a clue to the missing bones, it shows everywhere you've been and everywhere you go!" Join Lucy and her pals on the path to critical thinking with surprising twists and turns that help kids learn to track their own data trails, keep information private, and think about the ways they use media every minute. Open up important discussions with free resources, video clips and activities included in the Parents & Educators Guide, then continue the conversation online at DigitalDogsBook.com and ShapingYouth.org
Author: William Joseph Jackson Publisher: ISBN: 9780253342799 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 350
Book Description
Accompanying DVD contains ... "Two hours of Supercomputed frame-by-frame fractal animation. Includes Mandelbrot Zooms, Julia Promenades, Cascade maps and the Lorenz Attractor. Forty six scenes with original music."--[container of 1990 VHS release].
Author: Tara Campbell Publisher: Lillicat Publishers ISBN: 9781945646041 Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
What if the natural resources we manage began to manage themselves? And then us? Reports of peculiar tree assaults are trickling into the governor's office in Olympia, Washington: a maple kicks a dog about to relieve itself, a ficus spanks a leaf-yanking child, a yew slaps a woman locking up her bike to its trunk. Young staffer Tamia Bennett prepares to watch her career trajectory fizzle when she's put in charge of tracking these urban legends from loopy constituents. But as documented arbor assaults become violent and widespread, Tamia and retired botanist Dr. Barbara Block discover that these genetically modified trees are developing deadly plans. Miles away on the Palalla Nation, Charlie Meninick is in charge of protecting his tribe's old-growth trees from timber poachers. He's recovering from a tumultuous past and looking for peace and healing in the forest. After an accident on patrol, however, what he finds are two dead poachers and no other witnesses to convince troopers that the trees acted in self-defense. Tree attacks escalate, people panic, and forests begin to burn. Tamia and Charlie's paths converge as they uncover who engineered the trees and why. With fire engulfing Washington State, a genetic mutation spreading through the Pacific Northwest, and someone intent on a cover-up, Tamia and Charlie must determine which is actually the bigger threat: the newly awakening trees, or the powerful people now bent on destroying them. TreeVolution is a speculative fiction adventure featuring secret experiments, corporate machinations, and a little eco-payback. It explores the role of technology in conservation, the debate around genetically modified organisms, and potential abuses of technology in the age of surveillance.
Author: James Vincent
Author: James Vincent
Author: James Vincent
Author: Jannie Møller Hartley
Author: John Bemelmans Marciano
Author: Jessica Riddell
Author: Roland A Boucher
Author: Mathias Fink
Author: Amy Jussel
Author: William Joseph Jackson
Author: Tara Campbell