Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.76 (872 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0300124929 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-05-03 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
He is also a practicing architect and leads an influential London-based consultancy that advises on buildings that will affect the future skyline of London. Robert Tavernor is professor of architecture and urban design and director of the Cities Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His previou
A long chapter on defining the meter makes a compelling account-every locality had its own standards, wreaking havoc on commerce throughout France-and leads Tavernor into interesting discussions of the system's influence on culture (especially architecture), the "Anglo-Saxon resistance" with which the system was met and the evolving philosophy of measurement. To buttress this argument, Tavernor takes a broad swipe at history, beginning in the sixth century B.C., which picks up steam with France's invention, in the aftermath of the Revolution, of the metric system. From Publishers Weekly An exciting preface gets this history of measurement underway, describing how a 1958 fraternity initiation ritual at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led the construction industry's adoption of the Smoot, a length equal to Oliver Smo
Great book, bad paper leon As peculiar as the subject matter is, the book contains everything I want to know, and more!Tavernor is excellent, love his language, good research, excellent references, insightful thoughts. 5-star for the content, 1 star off for the paper.The choice of paper, regretfully, is wrong - matt art coated . Highly anti-recommended I cannot imagine anybody who would benefit from reading this book. It is poorly written; the prose is turgid and dense. The author jumps backwards and forwards in time for no apparent reason, leading to unnecessary confusion.My primary reason for rejecting this book is the author's agenda, which I fin
This rational” approach to measure in turn has inspired artists, architects, writers, and others to seek a balance that takes the human story into account. Measures are the subject of this unusual book, in which Robert Tavernor offers a fascinating account of the various measuring systems human beings have devised over two millennia. Tavernor concludes with a discussion of measure in our own time, when space travel presents to humankind a direct encounter with the unfathomable measure of the universe.. It encompasses the journey of Western civilization from the construction of the Great Pyramid to the first manned flight to the moon. Instead, he sets measures and measuring in cultural context and shows how deeply they are connected to human experience and history. The book explores changing attitudes toward measure, focusing on key moments in art, sculpture, architecture, philosophy, and the development of scientific thought. Tavernor urges us to look beyond the notion that measuring is strictly a scientific activity, divorced from human concerns. Beginning with a review of early measuring standards that referred to the feet and inches of ideal bodies, the book then tracks how Enlightenment interest in a truly scientific system of measure led to the creation of the metric system