The Measure of the Universe

by Isaac Asimov, Roger Jones (Illustrator)

The author describes concepts of measurement as related to such areas as speed, length, mass, and volume. Goodreads reviewer - "It was a long time ago that I read this, but I remember loving it. Asimov starts from everyday objects and then goes by orders of magniture to larger and larger objects and then down to smaller and smaller objects. As I remember he does the same thing with temperatures and speeds and maybe some other quantities."

Genres: Astronomy, Science, Nonfiction

339 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a long time ago that I read this, but I remember loving it. Asimov starts from everyday objects and then goes by orders of magniture to larger and larger objects and then down to smaller and smaller objects. As I remember he does the same thing with temperatures and speeds and maybe some other quantities.

[Claudio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro técnico, pero no por ello menos ameno, en que Asimov explica en términos sencillos las escalas para medir el universo y su contenido. Longitud, masa, peso, energía, todo es explicado llendo desde una escala humana hacia arriba y hacia abajo, desde los mas pequeño a lo mas grande. Abundantes ejemplos y el habitual humor de ASimov lo hacen un libro de consulta imprescindible.

[Tainan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at an antiquarian bookshop accidentally. As I knew Asimov by one of the most renowned writers in science fiction, bought the book immediately, despite its yellowish pages, and here's the funniest thing about this history: it is much more about anything but Science Fiction. A certainty recommended book for physicians, engineers and for those who like Sagan and Hawking.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically Ray & Charles Eames' "Powers of Ten" on steroids, in that he goes by half powers of ten (10^0, 10^0.5, 10^1, 10^1.5, 10^2...) and it goes beyond length to look at area, volume, mass, density, pressure, time, speed, and temperature, going first up to the biggest then down to the smallest from what's usual for us.