The Measure of Reality
The Measure of Reality
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Western Europeans were among the first, if not the first, to invent mechanical clocks, geometrically precise maps, double-entry bookkeeping, precise algebraic and musical notations, and perspective painting. By the sixteenth century more people were thinking quantitatively in western Europe than in any other part of the world. The Measure of Reality, first published in 1997, discusses the epochal shift from qualitative to quantitative perception in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. This shift made modern science, technology, business practice and bureaucracy possible.
- Pre-Galileo, Newton, etc. science in Europe
- Connection between math/science and the arts
- Connection between painting and European navigation/world conquest
Reviews & endorsements
"...we have all benefited from Crosby's attempt to sum up the age." Paula Findlen, The Sixteenth Century Journal
"How the numerate urge developed and blossomed is the subject of this gracefully written book by Alfred W. Crosby....Crosby constructs a convincing account of how different forces came together to elevate quantification as a social and economic good in Western European society." Business Week
"It's not often that one wishes a scholarly book were longer. In the case of The Measure of Reality, one does." Civilization
"How the numerate urge developed and blossomed is the subject of this gracefully written book by Alfred W. Crosby....Crosby constructs a convincing account of how different forces came together to elevate quantification as a social and economic good in Western European society." Business Week
"It's not often that one wishes a scholarly book were longer. In the case of The Measure of Reality, one does." Civilization
"...highly original....Crosby writes in an easy, chatty style punctuated with fascinating questions...appealing to the general reader as well as the scholar....[makes] valuable contributions to the current discussion on cultural studies." Library Journal
"...very accessible and readable...[a] stimulating, wide-ranging study of the intellectual development of the medieval West....Mr. Crosby tracks a magnificent journey, from the introspective mentality of the early Middle Ages, which willingly tolerated ignorance and lack of precision, to a mentality that conceived of the physical universe in visual and quantitative terms....Mr. Crosby tells a heroic story of discovery and change that many readers will turn to for enlightenment." New York Times Book Review
"The author provides some remarkable insights on modern culture....This is one of those rare books, one that changes the reader's view of the world just beyond the page." The Baltimore Sun
"...[an] engrossing study....It is a joy for anyone interested in why we think the way we think." Publishers Weekly
"Here, at last, is a theme that may provoke students and maybe also mature scholars--the primacy of art and commerce in the formation of a scientific-technological mentality." Theodore M. Porter, Technology & Culture
Product details
December 1997Paperback
9780521639903
262 pages
226 × 152 × 17 mm
0.38kg
19 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Part I. Pantometria Achieved:
- 1. Pantometria, an introduction
- 2. The venerable model
- 3. Necessary, but insufficient
- 4. Time
- 5. Space
- 6. Mathematics
- Part II. Striking the Match: Visualization:
- 7. Visualization, an introduction
- 8. Music
- 9. Painting
- 10. Bookkeeping
- Part III. The New Model.
