This was an impressively-"Garden Path" title, given the noun/verb ambiguity of "correct" and the modifier(?)/verb ambiguity of "measuring" :)
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Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
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Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#12While I am no apologist for the measurement system we use here in the United States, I realized something interesting when trying to explain why almost all of our units consist of easily divisible sub-units. Imagine you needed to split something up into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, etc.. If you imagine doing this with paper, it's fairly easy. Now imagine Metric, and the need to split something into 10 even pieces…
I don't think objections to US customary units are because of base-12 vs base-10. I think it's because it's 12 inches to 1 foot, 3 feet to 1 yard, 1760 yards to 1 mile, 3 tsp to 1 tbsp, 2 tbbsp to 1 fl. oz, 40 fl. oz per quart, 2 quarts per pint, 4 quarts per gallon, 31.5 gallons per barrel (or 42 if oil), 16 ounces per pound, 2000 pounds per ton (or 2240 if long ton), 1000 mil per inch, and so on.
It's not just a base-12 system, it's pretty random across the board.
And even just for "workshop" purposes, things like screw diameter (or sheet metal gauge, etc) are only listed in fractions-of-an-inch above certain sizes; below that it switches to a completely different numbering system, so you end up needing a reference chart anyway, which often just displays a decimal-inch figure like '#6 screw = 0.138 inch', and now you're looking up which fractional-markings that lies between on your ruler...
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#13These are beautiful - but the project kind of misrepresents how ancient measurements worked.
Outside of building sites in Medieval Europe it would be common for the head architect to have the outline of his hand on a sign. The idea being that even "crude" measurements like hand-widths and thumb lengths would be universally agreed upon for the project.
You can see some of this at work watching documentaries of the Guédelon Castle project - you see just how little precise measurements were actually needed. A lot of tasks we are used to accomplishing through high precision measurement, they instead use clever tricks of geometry. And jigs - lots of jigs.
In this way, ancient craftsmen were genius - often understanding some pretty profound principles of geometry through experience and intuition alone. Measurements, such as they existed, were always a very "local" affair.
It wasn't until empires and mass manufacturing that the need for "standardized" measurements. The intelligence of the individual craftsman became less important - the ability to follow instructions became more. In a way modern measurements are a form of artificial intelligence - an automation tool.
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#14That's a great title
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#15While I am no apologist for the measurement system we use here in the United States, I realized something interesting when trying to explain why almost all of our units consist of easily divisible sub-units. Imagine you needed to split something up into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, etc.. If you imagine doing this with paper, it's fairly easy. Now imagine Metric, and the need to split something into 10 even pieces…
Yeah, it's crazy to see my dad at work in his shop - the amount of intuition he has of fractional measurements is insane, but he can do the math so quickly.
In that specific context, if you were to do the math with decimal measurements it would take longer and leave you with some funky units. It's hard to describe how you work with the fractions - but the lumber and the saw blades and the screws and even the finishes all come in these standardized fractional increments that are easy to work with.
And the skill required of a project is directly related to the precision of the measurement you go down to - 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, etc. It all just kinda works.
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#16While I am no apologist for the measurement system we use here in the United States, I realized something interesting when trying to explain why almost all of our units consist of easily divisible sub-units. Imagine you needed to split something up into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, etc.. If you imagine doing this with paper, it's fairly easy. Now imagine Metric, and the need to split something into 10 even pieces…
I don't think objections to US customary units are because of base-12 vs base-10. I think it's because it's 12 inches to 1 foot, 3 feet to 1 yard, 1760 yards to 1 mile, 3 tsp to 1 tbsp, 2 tbbsp to 1 fl. oz, 40 fl. oz per quart, 2 quarts per pint, 4 quarts per gallon, 31.5 gallons per barrel (or 42 if oil), 16 ounces per pound, 2000 pounds per ton (or 2240 if long ton), 1000 mil per inch, and so on. It's not just a ba…
This makes me wonder about an alternate universe where a mile has 2310 yards. At least we’d get a bunch of prime factors out of it. Although guess being able to repeatedly halve a mile is useful for splitting up properties?
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#17This was an impressively-"Garden Path" title, given the noun/verb ambiguity of "correct" and the modifier(?)/verb ambiguity of "measuring" :)
You could also read the "period" as punctuation and it still almost works. Ambiguously garden-pathable sentence?
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#18These are beautiful - but the project kind of misrepresents how ancient measurements worked. Outside of building sites in Medieval Europe it would be common for the head architect to have the outline of his hand on a sign. The idea being that even "crude" measurements like hand-widths and thumb lengths would be universally agreed upon for the project. You can see some of this at work watching documentaries of the Gué…
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Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#19These are beautiful - but the project kind of misrepresents how ancient measurements worked. Outside of building sites in Medieval Europe it would be common for the head architect to have the outline of his hand on a sign. The idea being that even "crude" measurements like hand-widths and thumb lengths would be universally agreed upon for the project. You can see some of this at work watching documentaries of the Gué…
In fact in the US it wasn't until Herbert Hoover, in his capacity as Secretary of Commerce in the 1920's, standardized everything from pipe gauges and thread counts to bedpans and light sockets. He published a government schedule which soon got adopted nationwide. It enabled a farmer in Wyoming to order parts from a manufacturer in Massachusetts and they would fit when they arrived.
Re: Rulers of the Ancient World: period correct measuring tools
#20While I am no apologist for the measurement system we use here in the United States, I realized something interesting when trying to explain why almost all of our units consist of easily divisible sub-units. Imagine you needed to split something up into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, etc.. If you imagine doing this with paper, it's fairly easy. Now imagine Metric, and the need to split something into 10 even pieces…
I don't think objections to US customary units are because of base-12 vs base-10. I think it's because it's 12 inches to 1 foot, 3 feet to 1 yard, 1760 yards to 1 mile, 3 tsp to 1 tbsp, 2 tbbsp to 1 fl. oz, 40 fl. oz per quart, 2 quarts per pint, 4 quarts per gallon, 31.5 gallons per barrel (or 42 if oil), 16 ounces per pound, 2000 pounds per ton (or 2240 if long ton), 1000 mil per inch, and so on. It's not just a ba…
Those conversions varied all over the place. But they originated in a system of doubling. Used to be two quarts per pottle, two pottles per gallon, and so on from there (peck, kenning, bushel, strike, coomb)