[PDF] The Measure Of All Things eBook

Author : Ken Alder
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 37,74 MB
Release : 2014-07-29
Category : History
ISBN : 074324902X

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In June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator—a standard that would be used “for all people, for all time.” The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history’s greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves. By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed—and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.

Author : Ian Whitelaw
Publisher : Macmillan
Page : 172 pages
File Size : 48,21 MB
Release : 2007-08-07
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9780312370268

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Discusses the origins of standard units of measurement and how they have changed from ancient times to modern day, and describes systems of measurement, including the metric and Imperial systems and the Système International.

Author : Ken Alder
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 433 pages
File Size : 23,92 MB
Release : 2002
Category : Arc measures
ISBN : 074321675X

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The Measure of All Things is the astonishing story of one of history's greatest scientific quests, a mission to measure the Earth and define the meter for all nations and for all time.".

Author : Marcus Weeks
Publisher : Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 15,99 MB
Release : 2005
Category : Mathematics
ISBN :

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A comprehensive reference and history book on what is measured and why. Measurement is one of humankind's oldest and most vital activities. By measuring height, speed, size, temperature, strength and many other factors, humans can compare, improve and progress. In fact, measurement is an essential tool for survival. A Measure of Everything is a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide to what is measured and why. The book begins when the basic measurements were as simple as more, less and enough. As societies evolved, relative measurements were no longer sufficient. Advances in language allowed more precise measurements. Short distances were measured in relation to parts of the human body. For example, the ancient measurement cubit was the length of a pharaoh's arm plus the width of his hand. As society and culture progress and change, so do measurements. The rise of astronomy and the sciences demanded more exact measurements. These measurements are typically named after the discovering scientist, e.g., henry, curie, watt, rutherford, fahrenheit. This book features 28 categories organized into three sections: Earth and Life Sciences: astronomy, distance, time, meteorology, medicine, and five others. Physical Sciences: chemistry, mathematics, physics, speed, weight, temperature, and three others. Technology and Leisure: computers, engineering, finance, food, textiles, and four others. A Measure of Everything is an informative and entertaining book that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Author : Gene A. Getz
Publisher : Revell
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 45,66 MB
Release : 2016-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1493404253

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More Than a Million Copies Have Been Sold of this Powerful Book for Men, Now Revised for a New Generation For forty years, The Measure of a Man has taught hundreds of thousands of men around the world how to live according to God's direction--faithfully, lovingly, and spiritually. Now revised this classic guide to biblical masculinity is poised to impact a new generation of men. True masculinity is not measured by the strength of a man, but by these twenty biblical guidelines drawn from the Apostle Paul's letters to his young protégés Timothy and Titus. Inspiring, encouraging, and practical, this book shows men how they can reach God's standards as fathers, husbands, and mentors to other men. This updated edition includes QR codes that take the reader to online video resources for further study.

Author : Sri Madhava Ashish
Publisher : Quest Books
Page : 427 pages
File Size : 43,48 MB
Release : 2020-09-01
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 0835631877

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This volume is a study of the symbols of cosmic origins. It throws a new and searching light upon The Stanzas of Dzyan, a little-known collection of cosmogenic verses relating to cosmogenesis as set forth in H. P. Blavatsky’s great work The Secret Doctrine. “We are considering the universe as a tissue of psychic experience,” say the authors. “Our categories are psychic ones, and with their help we have attempted to show that the process of conscious manifestation is entirely a movement within the unity of consciousness being toward the achievement of self-conscious experience.”

Author : Reuben Abel
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 24,28 MB
Release : 2010-05-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 143911840X

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An intelligently truthful book that explores the uneven landscape of the human intellect. An accessible introduction to philosophy, this book narrows the gap between the general reader and intellectual inquiry. Its points are illustrated with concrete examples that should call the reader to a higher level of critical thinking and self-perception.

Author : David E. Cooper
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 40,98 MB
Release : 2007-12-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0191543950

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Philosophers, both western and eastern, have long been divided between 'humanists', for whom 'man is the measure of things', and their opponents, who claim that there is a way, in principle knowable and describable, that the world anyway is, independent of human perspectives and interests. The early chapters of The Measure of Things chart the development of humanism from medieval times, through the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Romantic periods, to its most sophisticated, twentieth-century form, 'existential humanism'. Cooper does not identify this final position with that of any particular philosopher, though it is closely related to those of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and the later Wittgenstein. Among the earlier figures discussed are William of Ockham, Kant, Herder, Nietzsche and William James. Having rejected attempts by contemporary advocates of modest or non-metaphysical realism to dissolve the opposition between humanism and its 'absolutist' rival, Cooper moves on to an adjudication of that rivality. Prompted by the pervasive rhetoric of hubris that the rivals direct against one another, he argues, in an original manner, that the rival positions are indeed guilty of lack of humility. Absolutists - whether defenders of 'The Given' or scientific realists - exaggerate our capacity to ascend out of our 'engaged' perspectives to an objective account of the world. Humanists, conversely, exaggerate our capacity to live without a sense of our subjection to a measure independent of our own perspectives. The only escape, Cooper maintains, from the impasse reached when humanism and absolutism are both rejected, lies in a doctrine of mystery. There is a reality independent of 'the human contribution', but it is necessarily ineffable. Drawing in a novel way upon the Buddhist conception of 'emptiness' and Heidegger's later writings, the final chapters defend the notion of mystery, distinguish the doctrine advanced from that of transcendental idealism, and propose that it is only through appreciation of mystery that measure and warrant may be provided for our beliefs and conduct.

Author : José Hernández-Orallo
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 632 pages
File Size : 10,42 MB
Release : 2017-01-11
Category : Computers
ISBN : 1316943208

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Are psychometric tests valid for a new reality of artificial intelligence systems, technology-enhanced humans, and hybrids yet to come? Are the Turing Test, the ubiquitous CAPTCHAs, and the various animal cognition tests the best alternatives? In this fascinating and provocative book, José Hernández-Orallo formulates major scientific questions, integrates the most significant research developments, and offers a vision of the universal evaluation of cognition. By replacing the dominant anthropocentric stance with a universal perspective where living organisms are considered as a special case, long-standing questions in the evaluation of behavior can be addressed in a wider landscape. Can we derive task difficulty intrinsically? Is a universal g factor - a common general component for all abilities - theoretically possible? Using algorithmic information theory as a foundation, the book elaborates on the evaluation of perceptual, developmental, social, verbal and collective features and critically analyzes what the future of intelligence might look like.