Ian Whitelaw

I liked and disliked this informational text for a couple of reasons. One of the major reasons I disliked the book was because I found the pages to be very busy and hard to focus on. The text is easy to understand but there is a lot of writing that is cluttered together, including the captions and main text on the pages. Another reason I disliked the book is because there are not many big pictures. On some pages it is hard to tell which picture goes with which caption and what picture matches the text on the main page. Although there are a few reasons I didn't like the book there are also a couple of reasons I enjoyed the book. I like that this was an informational text because the author used really interesting information throughout the book. I like the order in which the author placed the information because it has a stead flow. For example, the book starts with the author asking the reader to imagine a scenario and then transitions to the history of dog sledding. I thought this was an effective way to engage the reader in to the book.… (meer)

An interesting read. Essentially a whistle-stop tour of the history and rationale behind the various systems that peoples from all over the planet have used to measure things.

It covers a huge amount of territory – science and mathematics obviously, but also a good dollop of history and philosophy. You can almost use it as a brief guide to human technological development. At times it teeters on the edge of becoming a little dry, but each segment is short enough so that there will be something else to catch your attention a few paragraphs later.

All in all, a really good addition to the libraries of trivia buffs, pub quiz-masters, and dabblers in miscellanea.… (meer)