Maps, scales and other tools tell of Europeans’ attempts to make sense of race, geography and the novel plants and landscapes in the New World. A 1960 photograph shows a “body box" used to measure ...

WE TAKE the certainty of measurements for granted, but their story is as complicated and changeable as any other part of human culture. Journalist James Vincent makes this clear in his new book, which ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover global and domestic health care and conservation. This is part two of a three-part series on the critical role quality ...

In prehistoric times, not much needed to be measured. You ate what you found and lived where you could. The advent of agriculture and civilization, however, necessitated a way for people to measure ...

When it comes to measuring things, there are some odd units of measurement out there. While measuring in feet is standard, there are many weirder ways to measure. Did you know a hand is a unit of ...