Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy

by Andro Linklater

In 1790, America was in enormous debt, having depleted what little money the country had during its victorious fight for independence. Before the nation's greatest asset, the land west of the Ohio River, could be sold it had to be measured out and mapped. And before that could be done, a uniform set of measurements had to be chosen for the new republic out of the morass of roughly 100,000 different units that were in daily useage. Measuring America tells the fascinating story of how we ultimately gained the American Customary System — the last traditional system in the world — and how one man's surveying chain indelibly imprinted its dimensions on the land, on cities, and on our culture from coast to coast.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Geography, Science, Urban Planning, Maps

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm sure it wasn't the book's intention, but I now finally understand why the western part of the United States is defined by nice crisp lines, while the poor mixed-up East is a hodge-podge of borders. When flying over the land, it's wonderful to look down at the Great Empty and see the squares of farms and towns. I always know when the flight has passed the Mississippi because then it's that part of the country. "Easterners", I always sigh.

The book has a large ambition, in that it is there to educate us on the history of surveying within the States, plus adding the metric system (or lack of) plus all of the sane/insane persons who were involved in the very concept of measurements. It certainly came in handy when an office argument started over how we measure and I was able to stand up and give a five-minute explanation, which basically shut everyone up (until one brave lad asked, "Do the British still speak of stones?").

It's also good to know that the vaunted 1% were just as obsessed with screwing the rest of us over in the colonial days as they are now. Such as the example of the Appalachia area with absentee landowners back in the 1800s and, well, absentee landowners in the 2000s. Progress.

...European visitors immediately found in the pattern of land ownership something quite distinct from the hierarchical, landlord-dominated, agricultural societies they were accustomed to.

This is a book that provides more than a history of the surveyors and why Jefferson was ahead of his time regarding the metric system. The author doesn't flinch from pointing out how the native land dwellers were pushed out of their homelands in the mad rush for land. Or how, in that mad western push, the soils were destroyed for farming, thus bringing on climate changes, such as the 1930s dust bowl storms.

I would recommend this volume as an overall history of the concept of measuring, an explanation of what surveyors actually did (pretty amazing), and how short-term goals can destroy long-term common sense. And when I meet an Easterner, I now just tsk, tsk over their scrunched-up, squiggly what-are-the-names-of-those-states-again.

Book Season = Summer (west is best)

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Measuring America is more than just a book about surveying, its development globally, and specifically how it sorted America's map for eventual GPS purposes (not its original goal btw). I've read through it a number of times, and enjoyed it and learned something new every single read.

Besides a loosely chronological report of developments related as to how to identify a specific parcel of land for purposes of location, boundary and territorial definitions, and eventual ownership details, the author provides tidbits on original players, politics, cultural trends, confirmation of national actions we tried to hide/deny, and reports on ancient processes updated. Basically he answers many whys and wherefores, along with new stuff about which you didn't know to ask! It's true that some implied answers can leave a reader dangling, but at a minimum is pointed in a general direction for further research.

Much of my career has dealt with legal descriptions, long and short, metes and bounds, from the points of beginning at places certain to those as squidgy as a post in a field marked with a brown bottle, or an ancient oak with a forked base and carved markings. The surveying processes that evolved and the tools used, by the people involved is information in which I'm deeply interested.
The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) with its principal meridians and base lines is visited often when I want to think about something completely restful, and on a regular basis I march my most pliant family members out to appreciate the profundity and beauty of the Willamette Meridian (there's a heritage site state park just west of Portland - a sweet walk into history). For me, this book provides a sturdy foundation and a great jumping-off place for more research - or, in the alternative, if one has all they need on this topic, they could safely consider their thirst quenched and still walk away well-educated with this read.

As for me, curiosity on this topic presents no limits so far!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a nerdy type, I liked playing with the surveying tools in my 7th grade Construction class, so this book was right up my alley. The cover and title of this book worried me a bit, Untamed Wilderness smacks of the old Manifest Destiny histories I read as a kid. Not in this case, it's clear how the US was settled, we stole it from the natives and how the evolving notion of private versus owned by some sorry-assed king property drove the economy of America. Land hunger, greed and speculation are rampant, most of the founding fathers are speculators to one degree or another. The thought of having their own land free of rents, tithes or other bizarre duties is like strong drink to Americans.

The actual surveys and measurement tools are summarily covered, I think everyone will enjoy reading about skitter-infested swamps, (especially when your not in them!) and the tools used but the details aren't overwhelming. I did find the South's use of the earlier feudal method of surveying provocative, it was most advantageous to large plantation owners while the grid system worked well for smaller holdings. That and some of the bizarre services that sprung up around land grabs seem almost like fiction.

Another theme in this book is the standardization of measurements, no mean feat, the West had been trying (and still is) to perform this feat for hundreds of years mostly with little success. In the 18th century it was a mess, with thousands of standards and the resulting confusion used for profit by the unscrupulous. The story of the metric system is a bizarre one and the US being one of the early adopters is a bit ironic.

A fun read as part of trying to understand the early parts of US history.

[Emmett Hoops · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books that added much to my understanding of America. Every time I look at a map of the U.S., I marvel at the number of small towns in the South, and the relative paucity of them in the North. I wondered why the Western states all have boundaries that can be drawn with a ruler, a few quite nearly square, while none east of the Mississippi have that characteristic. I wondered how in the world anyone surveyed the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina: it is, after all, the Dismal Swamp.

Can boundary lines influence culture? Is American individualism an outgrowth of the links and chains of a surveyor? Why was being a surveyor such a dangerous occupation?

If you can still find it, probably somewhere on Amazon, I very highly recommend reading this book.

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the fact that I’ve lately soured on history, especially American history, I found this book truly exciting. Ignore the inappropriate subtitle: this book is about measuring, especially the surveying of the land the colonies and then the U.S. purchased and stole. It’s a story of one of many ways in which Americans imposed on the wilderness they found, in ways that didn't really work, except for speculators.

This is a very well written book, for me a real page-turner.

[Scott Ericksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago, but picked it up again because I remember being very interested in subject matter. It really makes one think how we take for granted our system of weights and measurements during our everyday business. Buying a gallon of milk, pound of bacon, kilowatt of electricity, etc., all need some type of consistent measurement. Very interesting to see where we came from in our past history, and how we got to where we are today.

[Eduardo Felix Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, some very interesting information. Didn’t shy away from calling out the colonizer lies occasionally, I did feel it avoided it at times, but I guess the subject wasn’t that so I feel it did a good job overall.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the author, the United States was the first polity to allow the personal ownership of land, what passing for ownership in England, for instance, being actually leaseholding. This and the vast areas cheaply available for settlement contributed greatly to the geographical and economic expansion of the county. Underlying this was the science of surveying, the mapping of boundaries.

On the one hand this is a history of surveying, focused on those North American lands which became part of the United States. On the other hand this is a history of scientific mensuration in general, the final chapter of which concerns itself with the metric system and the efforts to universalize its applications, a struggle which is ongoing in this country.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was encouraged to read this book from a friend who responded to my Facebook rant earlier this year on why the United States of America is one of the few countries that does not use the metric system. This book answered that question and more. I am no longer ashamed. ;) In America, we are free to use whatever system of measurement works best, ounces or cups or grams in the kitchen, metric in scientific and medical fields, mph and kph in travel. And, indeed, we have hidden elements of metrification within our monetary system. Jefferson spearheaded a novel usage of cents and dimes that make up a dollar, but also accommodated for quarters. Previously more complex divisions of money in pence and sixpence, etc were the standard.

I loved learning about the history of land ownership in America and the concept of property which goes hand in hand with how things are measured, from land to weights and money. This was great non-ficton. It may not be for everyone. I am a geography nerd and fanatic about learning the origins of things. Literally measuring America from coast to coast is an interesting angle to explore US History.

This summer my family traveled west coast to east coast and back again. Reading and listening to this book along the way gave a unique perspective to the way our country is shaped.

If you find this book at your library and don't end up reading all of it, at least read the last chapter and epilogue, it gets to the heart of the matter. Andro Linklater is a great researcher and distiller of complex information. I was sad to learn that is no longer around to write future books. But I will definitely read him again.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea how wildly inaccurate and confusing measures were during the founding years of our nation or for the centuries before that really. First, this book paints a vivid picture of the scrambled history of English weights and measures. Then it moves on through the struggles of scientist, politicians, and businessmen to make some sort of coherent system to satisfy everyone.
It’s full of interesting tidbits about our founding fathers, why our cities look the way they do, and why we still use miles and pounds instead of meters and kilograms. Occasionally, it does move a little slowly as he struggles to explain the varying and competing systems of measures.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was his tendency to disparage different people for things completely unrelated to the book and only mentioned in passing. I would still recommend it though.
There were a couple of curse words.

[Stuart]

An interesting survey of the relationship of measurement (land, money, length) to American development and culture.

[Giovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A catching essay about how the measurement systems have influenced the society and viceversa.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book for anyone who wondered about the lines on the maps of the United States. In it Andro Linklater, a British writer and journalist, provides a history of the surveying of America. This is necessarily a two-part task, as not only does he describe the development and importance of surveying in shaping America, but it also requires him to explain the simultaneous development of uniform measurement in the Western world. For while people were familiar with units of measurement, those units themselves were not standardized, as lengths, along with weights and volume differed from place to place during the colonial period.

Yet the colonists already had access to the first standard measurement, the 22-foot-long chain introduced by the 17th century mathematician Edmund Gunter. His chain was the first element of precision that made the surveying – and through that, the selling – of the vast American territories England claimed in North America. Linklater describes this tandem development well, conveying both the importance of surveying and measurement in shaping the history of the country, as well as the numerous frustrations involved in getting it right. What began as an often haphazard assessment gradually became a more professional, systematic approach by the mid-19th century, creating the checkerboard pattern and straight lines visible from the skies overhead today.

Linklater’s book is a readable history of a mundane yet critical aspect of American history. With a scope spanning from Tudor England to a land office in modern-day Sacramento he conveys something of the long process of development that brought us to where we are now. Yet his examination of surveying rests in a bed of outdated interpretations about American history. These are minor and do little to effect the author’s argument, yet they are a weakness that diminishes from the overall value of the book. All of this makes Linklater’s book a useful look at a long overlooked element shaping American history, yet one that is strongest when focusing on its main subject and not when discussing American history more broadly.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subtitle of this highly readable book is a bit purple, but what the author has to say makes a good case. It’s also an amazingly action-packed adventure story. Any genealogist learns early the practical ins and outs of frontier settlement and the titles, grants, and other documents that land claims inevitably produce. In this country, there are two distinct methods of recording those claims: “metes and bounds” in the original colonies and some of their western lands (such as Kentucky) and in Texas, which describe the boundaries of one’s land in terms of the points at which it adjoins or “meets” a neighbor’s land, and the rectangular survey system developed for use in the public-land states created from the nation’s later territorial acquisitions. The latter is far more rational and allows a claim to be filed based on geographical location without having actually set foot on the land -- but it also requires preliminary measurement by a party of government surveyors. Linklater lays out in much detail, and with colorful anecdotes, how the first surveys were decided upon and carried out (more or less) in the Northwest Territory, and later in the Plains states and the West. He describes how, thanks to the efforts of Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. nearly adopted a rational metric system early in its history (which in France and Prussia was an instrument of centralized government policy), and how that goal was waylaid by clinging to Edmund Gunter’s English chain/furlong system, which had the virtue of being easily understood by semi-literate surveyors with minimal mathematical skills. He relates the part played by rapacious land speculators (most of them members of the old aristocracy of New York, Massachusetts, and the Carolina low country), by frontier town-builders enamored of rectangular blocks (and why Manhattan has narrow, skimpy blocks compared to Philadelphia or Chicago), and how the railroads used the land-survey system to open up the continent while amassing enormous wealth. Though this volume is intended for the popular market, it also includes endnotes and a good bibliography.

[Daniel Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is everything electric measured on a decimal scale? Why is it that attorneys in KY and TN have more boundary cases than those in all the other states. Why is the U.S. boundary measured on the metric system but everything inside is measured in imperial units? Why do farmers in the former French colonies, including Louisiana, have neighbors but those in English speaking countries do not? Why is it that the man with the worst luck in the world became responsible for the U.S. not adopting the metric system? The one motivating factor missing from this book is that of French international trade. Every town had a unique form of currency and system of measures. It drove foreign traders crazy. Even the French had no idea how to measure the difference in value between the currencies of different French towns and villages. The book was a slow read for me. I found the subject interesting but I had a hard time convincing myself to pick it up once i put the book down.

[Jeff Waltersdorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing accounting of the surveying of the United States, carving wilderness into sellable blocks of land. A bit dry in the recounting of history, it is peppered with interesting anecdotes of the surveyors themselves, including how pirates of the Caribbean kept the United States from becoming metric. Even the tangents into the invention of the metric system, versus the growth of the English/Imperial measurement system, and decimal versus fractional based measurement, come back into play throughout.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Account of weights and measures in America, with particular attention to the relationship between the land, the people, and the system of surveying the land. How we measure, market, and possess our geographical space has impacted our politics and our people immensely, Linklater argues.

He also traces the history of the metric system, and its creation and growth at the same time that the US and England were pursuing their own (and finally failed) attempts at new decimal-based weights and measures.

[Nostalgia Reader]

Definitely an interesting topic, but my mind is just not having it with measurements right now.

[Sophiamaat]

Cách chọn loại hình bất động sản đầu tư hiệu quả

Bds đang là một trong những lựa chọn hàng đầu của các nhà đầu tư để đem tiền sinh tiền. Tuy nhiên, trên thị trường, có nhiều loại hình bất động sản khác nhau như nhà phố, biệt thự, căn hộ, đất nền hay nhà đất lẻ. Vậy, làm thế nào để chọn loại hình đầu tư phù hợp mang lại hiệu quả cao? Dưới đây là những điểm quan trọng cần xem xét để xác định loại hình đầu tư không thể bỏ qua.



Đầu tiên chúng ta cần hiểu khái niệm bất động sản là gì?

Bất động sản, hay còn được gọi là địa ốc hoặc nhà đất, là một thuật ngữ pháp luật có nghĩa bao gồm cả đất đai và những tài sản gắn liền vĩnh viễn với mảnh đất đó. Những tài sản này có thể bao gồm các công trình xây dựng như nhà cửa, ga ra, kiến trúc đặt trên mảnh đất, cũng như các tài nguyên dưới mảnh đất như dầu khí hay mỏ khoáng chất.

Tuy nhiên, không phải tất cả các tài sản gắn liền với mảnh đất đều được coi là bất động sản. Những tài sản có thể dỡ ra khỏi mảnh đất như nhà di động hay lều thì không được xem là bất động sản.

Làm thế nào để chọn được loại hình bất động sản đầu tư hiệu quả?

Dựa vào tài chính của mình để đưa ra quyết định chọn hình thức nào để đầu tư.
Theo các chuyên gia, để đầu tư vào bất động sản, vốn tối thiểu cần phải từ 500 triệu đồng trở lên. Dưới con số này, việc tìm dự án phù hợp để mua trở nên khó khăn và khả năng sinh lời cũng giảm đi đáng kể. Tất nhiên, nếu vốn không đủ, các nhà đầu tư có thể xem xét hợp tác đầu tư nhóm hoặc sử dụng hình thức vay ngân hàng. Tuy nhiên, việc huy động vốn từ nhiều nguồn khác nhau có thể dẫn đến mâu thuẫn ý kiến và khó khăn trong việc đưa ra quyết định.

Vay ngân hàng cũng có những lợi ích và khó khăn riêng. Mặc dù lãi suất sẽ ảnh hưởng đến lợi nhuận, nhưng việc vay ngân hàng có thể giảm đi nhiều áp lực về tài chính ban đầu. Nếu nhà đầu tư đã có kế hoạch tài chính cụ thể từ đầu, việc vay ngân hàng có thể là một giải pháp khả thi và đáng xem xét.

Dựa vào kinh nghiệm đầu tư BDS để tránh rủi ro

Trong số các loại hình đầu tư tại bất động sản Đức Thiện , đất nền được coi là kênh có tiềm năng sinh lời cao nhất, vì giá cả của nó phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố như quy hoạch, kinh tế và chính sách. Bằng cách đầu tư lướt sóng và đón đầu các dự án, hoặc bán ra ngay khi thị trường sốt đất, nhà đầu tư bất động sản có thể thu được lợi nhuận hấp dẫn.

Tuy nhiên, đầu tư vào đất nền yêu cầu nhiều kinh nghiệm và cần tìm hiểu kỹ tình hình bất động sản trong khu vực dự định đầu tư, vì giá trị của đất nền có thể thay đổi không theo quy luật và phụ thuộc vào thị trường.

Theo thống kê, các dự án nhà phố thường có tỉ lệ sinh lời từ 30% - 70%. Nhà phố là sản phẩm đa năng, có thể được sử dụng cho buôn bán, văn phòng hoặc để ở, vì vậy có nhu cầu lớn từ thị trường. Giá nhà phố phụ thuộc trực tiếp vào giá đất và dự án hạ tầng, và hạ tầng ngày càng được đầu tư đồng bộ, điều này giúp giá đất tiếp tục tăng.



Nếu bạn mới bắt đầu tham gia lĩnh vực đầu tư bất động sản, bạn có thể chọn các loại hình có độ an toàn cao và tăng trưởng ổn định như căn hộ bình dân hoặc tầm trung. Những sản phẩm này có giá trị thấp và khả năng sinh lời từ 10% - 12.5% mỗi năm, tuy không quá cao nhưng hiếm khi gặp tình trạng không sinh lời hoặc lỗ vốn. Do nhu cầu thực và nhu cầu đầu tư căn hộ bình dân và tầm trung luôn rất cao, tính thanh khoản của loại hình này cũng rất cao.

Mặt khác, các dự án chung cư thường được nghiên cứu kỹ lưỡng về quy hoạch, do đó hạn chế các vấn đề về giải toả, chính sách và pháp luật so với đất nền, nhà phố và biệt thự.

Dựa vào tình hình thị trường BDS hiện tại để đưa ra quyết định đầu tư

Thị trường đầu tư bất động sản không luôn tuân theo quy luật và không luôn tăng trưởng hoặc lướt sóng. Có nhiều yếu tố có thể ảnh hưởng đến thị trường, như dự án giao thông, quy định tách thửa phân lô, tín dụng vốn ngân hàng hay khủng hoảng kinh tế. Điều này làm cho bất động sản biến động khó lường và đầu tư trở nên không đơn giản.

Do đó, để đầu tư bất động sản an toàn và hiệu quả, người đầu tư cần phân tích kỹ lưỡng tình hình thị trường và chọn lựa những sản phẩm có tiềm năng. Nếu không có đủ kiến thức và kinh nghiệm, có thể nhờ sự giúp đỡ từ người thân, bạn bè có kinh nghiệm hoặc sử dụng dịch vụ tư vấn đầu tư bất động sản hoặc môi giới chuyên nghiệp.

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Để lựa chọn loại hình kinh doanh bất động sản phù hợp, không chỉ cần giải pháp tài chính hiệu quả mà còn cần có kiến thức về thị trường và kinh nghiệm đầu tư bất động sản. Từ đó, người đầu tư có thể đưa ra được giải pháp đầu tư hiệu quả.

Nếu bạn quan tâm đến đầu tư bất động sản, hãy liên hệ với chúng tôi- Sàn môi giới và tư vấn Bất động sản hàng đầu. Chúng tôi chuyên cung cấp các giải pháp đầu tư và an cư hiệu quả cho khách hàng.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A minor quibble with the subtitle: this book is less about how the wilderness or the frontier shaped early American history, but rather how the politics of measurement imposed a particular kind of order on the western United States, which can be seen even today in the neat, even grids of farmland you see when flying over the Midwestern states. It is also about a crucial path not taken in American history: the adoption of the metric system. Linklater argues that because the surveying of the Northwestern Territory of the United States was undertaken using a customary British unit of measurement--Gunther's chain--this ended up being a crucial decision that long forestalled the adoption of metric units in the United States. Even though Thomas Jefferson had proposed a decimal system of units only a few years previous to the beginning of the survey, and Congress toyed with the adoption of the new French metric units, the federal government's interest in standardization failed every time against the force of custom and habit, especially as settlers flooded into the western states and the population boomed. It is fascinating that even Jefferson himself remarked in the 1780s the necessity of hastily introducing a new system of measurement if it was to ever be adopted by the masses, who much preferred the common-sense, less abstract customary measurements. Almost every subsequent proponent of the metric system in the United States, through the 1970s, has cited almost the exact same set of challenges. And, of course, thus far, precedent has won out consistently through the many failed attempts to convert the American mainstream to the metric system.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will probably interest people already curious about the subject but will be a harder sell to the average educated reader perusing library shelves and on-line catalogs for an appealing general history.

Yet Measuring America is indeed a good general history, decently (if discursively) written, with good arguments made throughout. (David McCullough blurbs that he “was caught up from the first page.”) Perhaps the subtitle’s claim that land surveys “fulfilled the promise of democracy” is a bit over the top, but Linklater does correctly associate increased private ownership of real estate with the rise of democracy and the dramatic increase in population of the Thirteen Colonies that allowed them to outstrip New France and New Spain. Linklater also shares some clever thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of farms and city blocks turned into squares and rectangles.

Actually, Measuring America deals as much with weights and smaller linear measures as with the rectangular survey that turned the Midwest into grids stretching to the horizon from twenty thousand feet. Some of the most interesting chapters treat the possible window of opportunity during the early national years that might have permitted the United States to adopt a decimal measuring system superior to metric, which then might have taken the place of the latter as an international standard.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming from a family of surveyors, this seemed like a great blend of my preference for often overlooked historical accounts with the closest thing I have to "the family business" (which I chose not to go into).

It certainly covered a lot of ground not typically covered in histories that I've read. It went deep into some concepts (e.g. Gunter's chain) probably only familiar to people like my grandpa, uncles and cousins who have lived their lives measuring plots of land. I was lost in several places around topics outside of my grasp or that were not explained terribly well (maybe I should have paid better attention around the Thanksgiving table?).

Most interesting to me was the fascinating story of how the U.S. wound up with the imperial system of measurement instead of the metric system--and how close the country was to going metric at multiple points in the history. Maybe one day it will actually happen...

All in all, I'm glad I read the book and explored a bit of family connection through it. However, it would probably be most interesting to those with a particular interest in surveying.

[Jim Firestone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book for serious historians. It is about an important but extremely arcane topic - the process of surveying the lands of what was to become the United States. Necessary to this effort was determining a methodology and a set of consistent metrics to use.

It turns out that a seemingly straightforward task was definitely not so.

Everywhere in the world different metrics were in use and all were arbitrary and inconsistent. To populate our new nation, the rights of property needed to be established and enforced, and a consistent and respected system of description and identification developed. In reality, we never fully got there.

The fact that the basic idea of land ownership itself was just being created around the world is an interesting, if ugly, side note to the story. It is also, perhaps, a key to understanding what some call America’s “exceptionalism”.

This book is well written but dry and at times quite confusing due to all the different measurement systems employed and/or contemplated to be employed.

Still, I think I might keep this in my library as an interesting reference book.

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the title and subtitle made me buy the book it turns out neither described the book's subjects.

Much of the book was about the struggles in many countries to move from a plethora of inconsistent measures (of distance, but also of mass and also of time) to a standard system based on tens: the metric system. In that regard it is a very good book about that subject.

But it includes a lot of history about the role of measuring and allotting land in the U.S. as it expanded. There are interesting stories about how important the 1700s were in the process, especially in Britain and France, but also in the U.S. And the politics involved as the U.S. went from colonies to a new country was covered, too. It also includes information on the sale of land in America as it was settled, but that was the subplot.

The book eventually covers the adoption of the metric system and obstacles to it up to the present.

I might have given it 4 stars, but settled on three to put the average rating closer to what I would rate it: 3.75 stars.

Still a good read.

[Karla Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Measuring America is an absolutely fascinating read. Never did I think I would say that about a book about weights and measures. I knew when I saw that David McCullough and Simon Winchester had endorsed it that it would be an excellent read and I was not disappointed.

I wish I had read this book before taking Trigonometry in high-school. I had no idea the mathematics of trigonometry helped survey America. My math teacher should have lead with that piece of information! Maybe I would have cared more about what I thought was just boring math.

The standardizing of weights and measures enabled the buying and selling of property allowing citizens to become property owners. Private property is fundamental to the American way of life. This entire nation is surveyed using a 22 yard chain invented by Edmund Gunter in 1620 - Gunter’s Chain.

I recommend this fascinating and well written book to any American history buff. I’m still marveling over how much I enjoyed reading this book.

[Lance Hillsinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Measuring America by Andro Linklater is simply a wonderful book. Through the lens of surveying, the reader sees roughly the first century of America. The “history of surveying” might seem dull to some readers, but with excellent research and clear writing, Linklater shows the reader the impact that surveying, good or bad, has had on the march of history. A history that includes the development of the metric system and the concept of owned land (versus the concept that all land ultimately belonged to the crown).

Measuring America was published in 2002, so it is a book not available at most bookstores. I got my copy as a gift. Because of its unique perspective, Measuring America makes a great for oneself or the history buff in your family.

[Jeff Rosendahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this be a pretty interesting book overall, although pretty dry unless you are really interested in the history of the American land survey and the history of the metric system. The one unfortunate thing is the fact that I read it in 2017, and near the end of the book, Linklater talks about how metric system standards were due to be implemented no later than 2010. I found myself wondering if those had actually happened on schedule. Linklater makes some excellent points about how American ideals are reflected in the democratic nature of our land survey and how it also perpetuated loneliness in the American West.

[Gregory Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in engineering history, this is a fascinating book. There's a lot about the weights and measures of early settlement. If you've ever wondered why cities are laid out the way they are, how townships are measured the way they are, or why the US did not adopt the metric system... this is the book for you.

I can't say that I'd assign it to an undergraduate course, but it is a great read. If you have a loved one who enjoys science and engineering, they will love these stories. The writing is top notch and the notes are helpful. I've never read anything like it and I'm sure it will stick with me for a long time.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces a topic so basic to our country but so widely unknown. How do weights and measures make a nation. The discussion on land surveys and their far reaching impact is insightful and thought provoking. Written with the layman in mind, Linklater presents a nationwide tapestry of activity. The surveyor was generally the first representative of society in the wilderness after the trapper and adventurers moved on.

[Laurie Sytsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, but not an easy-to-read book. I had never thought about it before that there were so many different means of "measuring" before and when our country was found. Also, the need for a system to measure land since land-ownership became an American thing. This book also explained the rise of our "customary" measurement system and how the metric system was dictated from the government level in so many countries, when the common people really didn't want it.