Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.15 (566 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0300124929 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-05-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Beginning with a review of early measuring standards that referred to the feet and inches of ideal bodies, the book then tracks how Enlightenment interest in a truly scientific system of measure led to the creation of the metric system. It encompasses the journey of Western civilization from the construction of the Great Pyramid to the first manned flight to the moon. Instead, he sets measures and measuring in cultural context and shows how deeply they are connected to human experience and history. The book explores changing attitudes toward measure, focusing on key moments in art, sculpture, architecture, philosophy, and the development of scientific thought. This rational” approach to measure in turn has inspired artists, architects, writers, and others to seek a balance that takes the human story into account. Tavernor concludes with a disc
leon said Great book, bad paper. As peculiar as the subject matter is, the book contains everything I want to know, and more!Tavernor is excellent, love his language, good research, excellent references, insightful thoughts. 5-star for the content, 1 star off for the paper.The choice of paper, regretfully, is wrong - matt art coated paper. The bo. "Highly anti-recommended" according to Chris Crawford. I cannot imagine anybody who would benefit from reading this book. It is poorly written; the prose is turgid and dense. The author jumps backwards and forwards in time for no apparent reason, leading to unnecessary confusion.My primary reason for rejecting this book is the author's agenda, which I find most object
Following this, London School of Economics professor Tavernor too often gets bogged down in a long-winded defense of his contention that measurement has been dehumanized, "culturally removed from the mainstream experience of society," losing focus and momentum as he does. To buttress this argument, Tavernor takes a broad swipe at history, beginning in the sixth century B.C., which picks up steam with France's invention, in the aftermath of the Revolution, of the metric system. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevie
He lives in London and Bath.. His previous books include On Alberti and the Art of Building, published by Yale University Press. Robert Tavernor is professor of architecture and urban design and director of the Cities Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is also a practicing architect and leads an influential London-based