The Sizesaurus: From Hectares to Decibels to Calories, a Witty Compendium of Measurements

A compendium of measurement facts and comparisons provides a history of measurement from biblical times to the present, a glossary of measurement terms, and detailed conversion tables

A fun book about the measurements by which we define the world. Strauss is especially good when he tackles such issues as "What would Santa Clause have to do to deliver all his presents in one night", and in his "Measuring Macropedia" occupying the last half of the book, in which he provides nice graphical and tabular comparisons of the most frequently encountered for units of measurement. I suspect a better book could be written about the topic, but it appears to be the best such book in print at this time (early 1997). Recommended.