imagine for a moment that you’re a peasant in the Middle Ages. The grain you get from your farm is needed not only to feed your family, but also to pay your feudal dues and barter for goods at the market. When you take it to be sold, you are watching someone measure out not only months of labour, but, potentially, the future of your family. In lean years, shaking or striking the container to let the seeds settle could be the difference between survival and starvation. As a result, the activity of measuring grain is one of the most intricately controlled aspects of metrology in this period,
...more
