Beyond Measure

THE TIMES SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY A revelatory and vibrant story of measurement which will make you look at the world around you anew. 'A wildly ambitious book by a formidably talented young writer.' ROBERT MACFARLANE 'Vivid, epic, and full of curiosities. This is a book to delight and fascinate.' TIM HARFORD , bestselling author of How to Make the World Add Up 'Beyond Measure offers, with much intellectual flair and style, a bracing new history: how the once innocent urge to quantification took over our lives, our sense of ourselves and the world.' PANKAJ MISHRA 'The exact value of this book is hard to quantify. Weighty, precise and satisfyingly obsessive, it's also an absolute pleasure to read.' SIMON GARFIELD , bestselling author of The Timekeepers 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? Written with vim and dazzling intelligence, James Vincent provides a fresh and original perspective on human history as he tracks our long search for dependable truths in a chaotic universe. Full of mavericks and visionaries, adventure and the unexpected, Beyond Measure shows that measurement has not only made the world we live in, it has made us too. 'An epic story about humankind's relationship with the physical world. Vincent is an erudite and perceptive guide, who with energy and skill weaves history, science and reportage into an enthralling tale.' ALEX BELLOS ' Telling the story of metrology is not easy [but] Vincent is equal to the task . . . this book is extremely good.' THE TIMES 'This quirky history is inch-perfect.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Gripping.' NEW SCIENTIST 'Worth its weight in gold . . . Enlightening.' OBSERVER 'Fascinating . . . an erudiite and elegant read.' MAIL ON SUNDAY

THE TIMES SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY A revelatory and vibrant story of measurement which will make you look at the world around you anew. 'A wildly ambitious book by a formidably talented young writer.' ROBERT MACFARLANE 'Vivid, epic, and full of curiosities. This is a book to delight and fascinate.' TIM HARFORD , bestselling author of How to Make the World Add Up 'Beyond Measure offers, with much intellectual flair and style, a bracing new history: how the once innocent urge to quantification took over our lives, our sense of ourselves and the world.' PANKAJ MISHRA 'The exact value of this book is hard to quantify. Weighty, precise and satisfyingly obsessive, it's also an absolute pleasure to read.' SIMON GARFIELD , bestselling author of The Timekeepers 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? Written with vim and dazzling intelligence, James Vincent provides a fresh and original perspective on human history as he tracks our long search for dependable truths in a chaotic universe. Full of mavericks and visionaries, adventure and the unexpected, Beyond Measure shows that measurement has not only made the world we live in, it has made us too. 'An epic story about humankind's relationship with the physical world. Vincent is an erudite and perceptive guide, who with energy and skill weaves history, science and reportage into an enthralling tale.' ALEX BELLOS ' Telling the story of metrology is not easy [but] Vincent is equal to the task . . . this book is extremely good.' THE TIMES 'This quirky history is inch-perfect.' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Gripping.' NEW SCIENTIST 'Worth its weight in gold . . . Enlightening.' OBSERVER 'Fascinating . . . an erudiite and elegant read.' MAIL ON SUNDAY

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science & Technology Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and The Economist "Quietly thrilling.…The story of humans measuring things is no less than the story of civilization." —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times Book Review A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day.

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science & Technology Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker and The Economist "Quietly thrilling.…The story of humans measuring things is no less than the story of civilization." —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times Book Review A vibrant account of how measurement has invisibly shaped our world, from ancient civilizations to the modern day.

Throw away those measuring tools and let your senses guide the way! Cooking begins with the senses, and nobody knows this better than Bilal Bhatti. Before he became @GoldenGully, Bilal grew up learning to cook by paying close attention to his mother in the kitchen. He quickly realized that in order to cook like her, he’d need to rely on his senses instead of traditional measuring tools. She’d call for a “saucer” of flour when making roti and a “mug” of rice when making biryani, using typical household items as a standard for measurement rather than cups and teaspoons. On the surface, Beyond Measure is a book about Pakistani cuisine. But at its heart, this book is for anyone who wants to learn to cook intuitively. This book will encourage you to learn flavor and ingredient profiles, learn basic (and some not so basic) cooking techniques, and then make the dishes your own. Like his mother and grandmother, Bilal encourages his followers not to be afraid of “failure” in the kitchen, as the commitment to persistence is core to immigrant home cooking. Whether you’re looking to create the perfect blend of spices for your chai or to master making roti dough by feel, cooking requires a lot of trial and error. Take your time and enjoy the process.

Throw away those measuring tools and let your senses guide the way! Cooking begins with the senses, and nobody knows this better than Bilal Bhatti. Before he became @GoldenGully, Bilal grew up learning to cook by paying close attention to his mother in the kitchen. He quickly realized that in order to cook like her, he’d need to rely on his senses instead of traditional measuring tools. She’d call for a “saucer” of flour when making roti and a “mug” of rice when making biryani, using typical household items as a standard for measurement rather than cups and teaspoons. On the surface, Beyond Measure is a book about Pakistani cuisine. But at its heart, this book is for anyone who wants to learn to cook intuitively. This book will encourage you to learn flavor and ingredient profiles, learn basic (and some not so basic) cooking techniques, and then make the dishes your own. Like his mother and grandmother, Bilal encourages his followers not to be afraid of “failure” in the kitchen, as the commitment to persistence is core to immigrant home cooking. Whether you’re looking to create the perfect blend of spices for your chai or to master making roti dough by feel, cooking requires a lot of trial and error. Take your time and enjoy the process.