In taking on a subject as huge as measurement, James Vincent runs the risk of absurdity. Why not a history of air or water? Still, he makes a good fist of it: he tells the story of Egypt’s Nilometer, a yardstick for measuring the river’s depth vital to ancient agriculturists; describes the role of surveys in Oliver Cromwell’s war in Ireland; and exposes the importance of maps to Britain’s colonisation of India. He shows how measuring plays a major role in asserting economic, political and personal prestige. Where would superpowers be without megatons and GDP or celebrities without retweets and likes?
Naming units of measurement has been a vital way for nations to impose order. Beating the bounds of an area and using a tape measure to do DIY are also ways to define the meaning of home. Vincent’s thesis, that measurement makes society and civilisation possible, is indisputable. But there is also something to be said for Hannah Arendt’s observation (which the author partially accepts) that the vantage points created by surveying and mapping the globe have led to a disentanglement from “the close at hand.”
Vincent is a self-confessed nerd. But even he sounds cautious about our digital life loaded with stats and data. “In a world suffused with measurement, built on measurement, we need to remember what purposes it serves and whom it should ultimately benefit.”
Beyond Measure tries to imbue its subject with universal appeal. But I suspect it will appeal most to the kind of birdwatcher too busy ticking a box to notice a soaring eagle.
