The Curious History of Weights & Measures

by Claire Cock-Starkey

A fascinating miscellany of the stories behind our weights and measures.

How long is an ell? How big is the largest champagne bottle? How do you measure the heat of a chili pepper? Why is the depth of water measured in fathoms? And what, exactly, is a cubit?

The Curious History of Weights & Measures tells the story of how we have come to quantify the world around us. Looking at everything from carats, pecks, and pennyweights, to firkins, baker’s dozens, and modern science-based standards such as kilograms and kilometers, this book considers both what sparked the creation of measures and why there were so many efforts to usher in standardization. Full of handy conversion charts and beautiful illustrations, The Curious History of Weights & Measures is a treasure trove of fun facts and intriguing stories about the calculations we use every day.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

I started out in media, working at BBC Radio Four and Five Live before going on to work at LBC. From there I found my spiritual home working with Ben Schott, starting out as researcher on the Sporting, Gaming and Idling Miscellany. I went on to help develop the format for Schott’s Almanac, working as Assistant Editor on the first two books before rising to become UK & Series Editor on the four subsequent UK books, three German and three US editions.

Working with Ben I also had the opportunity to assist with various miscellaneous offerings for The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Conde Nast Traveller, New York Times, Vanity Fair and Smythson diaries.

After producing a small team of children I decided it was time to set up on my own, so since 2011 I have been busily working as a freelance writer and editor – juggling writing books and articles, project managing a vast array of Lego building operations and editing and indexing a number of non-fiction titles.

I am happiest perched in the British Library reading rooms surrounded by a pile of obscure and fascinating books researching my next offering.

Reviews

[Paul Ransom · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this book is a delightful curio. Those who appreciate the back alleys and side bars of human history will appreciate Claire Cock-Starkey's enjoyable excursion through the plethora of metrology. From the forgotten and inexact to the modern and precise, she takes us through a degustation menu of old and new measures. Trivia buffs, holiday readers and those who like to pick apart what we so often take for granted will find much in this often quirky and always approachable volume of yardsticks, milestones and chili scales. Despite its Anglo-Euro bias, (which the author flags upfront), 'The Curious History of Weights & Measures' is a fascinating and human scale portrait of our universal penchant for knowing how far, how much and how strong.

[DW Rowlands · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had the potential to be an interesting book, but didn't really pull it off, I think largely because of the format: the book is a collection of very short chapters about different units of measure, without any broader underlying structure even for units of measure that were historically related.

[Millstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Units of measurement of varying age, grouped by volume, length, weight and miscellaneous scales without those dimensions, with a few words in evolution, definition and anecdote running to a few pages on each.

[Pascal Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but sometimes incorrect. By the end, it seems to be a list of things that had to be added in there for no particular reason.

[Andrew Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little book full of interesting factoids