New from the author of the highly successful "The Story of Writing", here is the first fully illustrated guide to the human passion for measurement - of ourselves, our experiences, our surroundings and the universe - published at a time of great interest in popular science titles. Answering many of the questions of everyday life, and sure to appeal to a broad readership, the book is at once a valuable reference that every home should have, an important work that catalogues our obsession with quantifying the universe - and a wonderful gift.