![]() Our guest is Susan Denham Wade, author of The History of Seeing in 11 Inventions. For the first time it allowed our eyes to observe the universe beyond the bounds of our Earthly home.īut how did this groundbreaking instrument first come about? Today on the show we find out who really invented the telescope (it wasn't Galileo, actually), why it was embraced by some and shunned by others, and explore its lasting impact on how we see our own world. ![]() ![]() The telescope marked, arguably, the first invention to truly transform a human sense. The French revolutionaries aims went beyond overthrowing the monarchy – they wanted to transform society to reflect a more enlightened way of thinking. The metric system that eventually came to replace British Imperial units emerged from the revolutionary ferment of late 18th Century France. This precise new unit replaced the varying definitions of wine, ale, and corn (wheat) gallons. This was defined as equal in volume to 10 pounds avoirdupois of distilled water, weighed at 62 ☏ with the barometer at 30 inches, or 77.421 cubic inches. That Act and the later Act of 1878 both sought to apply some degree of scientific rigour and legislative standardisation to a set of customary definitions that had previously varied according to trade and locality.Ī good example of the standardisation set out in the initial Weights and Measures Act can be found in the adoption of a new uniform gallon. The Weights and Measures Act that came into effect during the reign of George IV in 1824 set out to overhaul such generalisations and establish a precisely defined uniformity of measurements. The traditional units that preceded the codification of the British Imperial system were often derived from amusingly subjective forms of measurement: a furlong was based on the length of a long furrow in a ploughed field the yard was originally set as the distance between Henry I’s nose and the tip of his outstretched arm. Which is what standardisation was designed to deliver. This inconsistency would have been less of an issue when travel and trading remained localised, but the first thin increments of globalisation demanded improved uniformity. Roman steelyard balance with two bronze weights, 50–200 A.D., Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren, BelgiumĪ locally understood 1 foot unit would only have approximated a foot used elsewhere. While numerous familiar units of measurement, including the pound, foot and gallon, were in use before any attempt was made to standardise them, their values tended to be relatively inconsistent. ![]() The British Imperial System emerged from a long and complex history of local units that can be traced back to thousands of Roman, Celtic, Anglo Saxon and customary local units. For those reluctant to measure the decline of the Empire in any measure, doing so in metric hectares instead of Imperial acres might be an indignity too far. ![]() Britain’s ability to introduce a standardised global system was undoubtedly a product of its all-conquering power. Perhaps some of this lingering nostalgia is linked to the Imperial System’s association with the British Empire. On the other hand, many Imperial units, such as the Gill (quarter of a pint), Barleycorn ( 1⁄ 3 of an inch) and League (3 miles) now seem distantly archaic. Listen NowĪnd it’s hard to imagine anyone ordering 473 ml of lager (otherwise known as a pint) in a pub. Tune in to find out how it was discovered, the impact it had, and if we could possibly imagine a world without it today. Today we are joined by statistician and author Timandra Harkness, who is going to take us back in time to the invention of zero as a mathematical concept. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |