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.