Measure For Measure

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Whether in miles or pounds, meters or kilograms, we take daily measure out our lives. But how did these units ever come to be, and why do we want to change them? From light-years to leap seconds, we look at the history of efforts to quantify our lives and why there’s always room for greater precision. Plus, we debate the virtues of staying imperial measurements vs. going metric. Guest: James Vincent - Author of Beyond Measure, the Hidden History of Measurement Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.
0:05.0	This episode is brought to you by Shopify.
0:07.0	Looking to start a side hustle or become your own boss, do it with Shopify.
0:11.0	Whether you're selling succulents or stilettoes, Shopify has the industry leading tools to help you create, control and grow your own business.
0:18.0	So get serious about selling and get Shopify today.
0:21.0	Sign up for a one pound per month trial period
0:23.6	at Shopify. co-deek slash special offer,
0:26.4	or lower case.
0:27.5	That's Shopify. co-deekk slash special offer.
0:32.4	The world is constantly changing and transforming.
0:35.0	Cut through some of the noise with What's New With Wired,
0:39.0	a podcast that goes in depth on the latest news and technology and culture.
0:43.7	Their award-winning journalism will help you make sense of what's happening in the world.
0:48.3	Listen to What's New With Wired wherever you get your podcasts.
0:52.1	That's What's New With Wired, wherever you get your podcasts. That's what's new with Wired wherever you get your
0:55.1	podcasts. When you last weighed something in kilograms, did you detect anything different?
1:11.0	Well, if you're as finely tuned as the standard kilogram itself, you may have noticed it wasn't quite the same.
1:17.0	The kilogram was changed by about 50 micrograms in the last couple of years to keep up with the demands of universal standards of weight.
1:25.1	It may seem finicky until you realize just how much our lives depend on precision measurement.
1:31.5	To give you an idea of how much, well consider that the call for consistent standards
1:35.8	was a public rallying cry in the heated chaos of the French Revolution.
1:41.2	There was this document that was created called the Kaya de Doliance, the notebook of complaints, that was collected by the sort of revolutionary to say, okay, what are people really annoyed about? And measurement is mentioned there as 14th most frequent objective complaint out of 50 or so.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Big Picture Science, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Big Picture Science and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.