Beyond Measure

Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants

James Vincent

Norton, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-324-06614-9

(Amazon)

Read by the author in 2024, purchased for $14.02

"Additions can be made to the city or to the courtyards only by the king, a prophet, the Urim Vetummim, and the Sanhedrin of seventy one, and with two thanks-offerings and with song." (Mishnah Shevuot 2:2) 

There are many subjects in rabbinic literature in which measurement plays a key role. Several chapters in ArchitecTorah are dedicated to these topics. This is one reason why a book about measurement has so many interesting anecdotes that bring to mind discussions in the Talmud. James Vincent's Beyond Measure is a very interesting read, with some well-known stories and other more obscure points, aimed at framing the modern world as a place shaped by measurement. 

One chapter, A Grid Laid Across the World, discusses the well-known Jeffersonian grid, which shapes the division of land in America. However, Vincent also mentions a ceremony called "beating the bounds," when people in a community would gather and survey the town limits together, noting geographic features. Children would follow along and physically hit the objects with sticks, to communicate the boundaries of the community to a future generation. The ritual recalls discussions in the Talmud about Shabbat boundaries, spots that were ritually impure, public paths through fields, and other situations in which people struggled to recall the statutory standing of a location. Beyond the purpose of sanctification itself, a ceremony such as the one described in Mishnah Sanhedrin for marking the boundaries of Jerusalem would have served a similar purpose. 

The book also mentions how conflicting systems of measurement might arise, based on the size of the agricultural crop, and the process of measuring volume, with the use of a heaped or striked measure. One very interesting topic covered is the fact that greater precision in measurement leads to more inaccuracies. If two people take the same measurement in feet, they are likely to arrive at the same distance. However, if they are tasked with giving a measurement accurate to 1/32 of an inch, it is much more likely that they will differ in result. This is an important point for discussion tzimtzum, and suggests that the debate may hinge on how precise a measurement is demanded.