Measuring America: How An Untamed Wilderness Shaped The United States And Fulfilled The Promise Ofdemocracy
Andro Linklater
Plume (2003)
In Collection
#4344
0*
History, Technology
Frontier And Pioneer Life/ United States, National Characteristics, American, Public Lands/ United States/ History, Measurement - Standards, Surveying
Paperback 9780452284593
English
In 1790, America was in enormous debt, having depleted what little money and supplies 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 use in daily life. Measuring Americatells 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.
Product Details
Dewey 973
Cover Price $15.00
No. of Pages 320
Height x Width 8.4 x 5.5  inch
Personal Details
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