The Science of Measurement: A Historical Survey - Brossura

Klein, Herbert Arthur

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0486258394 ISBN 13: 9780486258393

Casa editrice: Dover Pubns, 2011

Riassunto

"Klein is both a skilled reporter and a wide-ranging humanistic scholar. The book is popular and learned, witty and serious, literary and mathematical — always solid and entertaining." — Los Angeles Times.
Although the topic of measurement might seem to lend itself to a dry-as-dust treatment, this book is just the opposite: an engrossing, easy-to-read study that treats a multifaceted topic with wit, imagination, and wide-ranging scholarship.

Metrology, the science of measurement, usually concerns itself with length, weight, volume, temperature, and time, but in this comprehensive work the topic also encompasses nuclear radiation, thermal power, light, pressure, sound, and many other areas.
Representing nearly ten years of research effort, The Science of Measurement is considered a definitive book on the concepts and units by which we measure everything in our universe. Nontechnical in its approach, it is not only completely accessible to the general reader but as entertaining and fun to read as it is informative and comprehensive.
" . . . not concerned only with problems of measuring the limits of space or the size of the proton. It is filled with interesting digressions. Not a book for daydreaming, but a book for the curious. Klein's survey of the units and concepts by which we measure everything in the universe helps us understand that universe much better." — Boston Herald Advertiser

Su questo libro

Recensione

''Popular and learned, witty and serious, literary and mathematical always solid and entertaining.'' --Los Angeles Times.

Contenuti

I The Babel Behind Us: Profusion of Confusions and Contradictions 1. Why in the World Make Much of Measurement? 2. Varieties of Volumes 3. Curiosities of Capacity 4. How Far from Here to There? 5. More Lore of Length 6. Covering the Subject (Area and Surface) 7. Wayward Weights II "Times in Turmoil, and the Origins of the Metric System" 8. Keeping Track of Time 9. Revolution and Measurements 10. Changing Times in France 11. Clock Corrections of Limited Life 12. Calendric Curiosities 13. Celestial Clocks That Can't Keep Step 14. The Great Sky Clock by Day and Night 15. Paths Toward Precision: Departure from the Day and Year in Defining the Basic Time Unit (the Second) 16. The Limits of Precision in Our Time III The International System (SI) in Action 17. Linking Lengths with Light 18. Meaningful Lengths Measured by the Meter 19. "Matters of Mass, Weight, and Acceleration" 20. "Minimal Mass Units and the Insights of Mass-Energy ("Massergy")" 21. "Massergies, Mostly Very Large" 22. "More About Massergies, Big and Little" 23. "Patterns of Power, the Time Rate of Energy" 24. "Thermal Power Measurements, Including Some with Weight for Ordinary Folks" 25. Light on Light: Measurements and Comparisons IV This Thermal Universe 26. On the Track of Temperature 27. "Temperature Scales, Fancy and Plain (I. Roemer and Fahrenheit)" 28. Temperature Scales (II. Réaumur and Celsius) 29. From Principles to Practicalities in Today's Thermometry 30. "Introducing Entropy, the Measure of Mixed-upness" 31. Further Adventures in Entropy 32. More Tools for Thermal Measuremens-a Mixed Bag 33. The Role of Radiation 34. The Ranges of Radiation V The Body Electric 35. "Arrival at the Ampere, Basic Unit of Electric Current" 36. "The Volt of Electromotive Force, the Ohm of Resistance, and Others" 37. "The Farad of Capacitance, the Henry of Inductance, and Some More" 38. "Magnetic Mates: The Weber of Magnetic Flux, the Tesla of Magnetic Flux Density, and Further Items" 39. Electromagnetic Measurements: A Final Survey VI "Problems of Pressures, Densities, Strong Drinks, Sound, and Flow" 40. Measurements at the Bottom of the Ocean of Air 41. Pilgrimage for Pascal 42. "The Pascal and Other Units for Squeezing, Stretching, and Twisting" 43. Dealings with Densities 44. The Lighter Spirits and Densitometry 45. Now Hear This!-Essentials of Acoustic Measurements 46. "Ring Out, Wild Decibels!-Some Measurements Related to the Defense of Auditory Integrities" 47. Smile the While . . . 48. It's a Drag!-Viscosity and Its Variations VII Nuclear Disintegrations and Some Other Pressing Problems 49. "Radioactive Disruptions of Matter, and the Case of the Curie" 50. "The Road to th Roentgen, Unit of Exposure and Dosage for Ionizing Radiations" 51. "Arrival at the Rep, the Rad, and the Rem, Plus Continuing Problems of Vital Import to All the Living and the Yet-to-be-born" 52. "Concerning Units, Critical and Comic" 53. Eponymous Processional-a Last Roundup of Units 54. "Time-honored Questions, Referred to the Reader for Further Consideration" Guide to Prefixes and Symbols Index

Dettagli dell?edizione

• Editore: Dover Pubns
• Data di pubblicazione: 2011
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0486258394
• ISBN 13: 9780486258393
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 736
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: Soc. Agr. La Raia Ss; http://www.la-raia.it; ; Strada Monterotondo, 79; Novi Ligure; 15067; Italia