Introduction: The noonday cannon -- Vitruvian man -- Ancient China : feet and flutes -- West Africa : gold weights -- France : "realities of life and labor" -- Halting steps toward universality -- "One of the greatest triumphs of modern civilization" -- Metrophilia and metrophobia -- Surely you're joking, Mr. Duchamp! -- Dreams of a final standard -- Universal system : the Si -- The modern metroscape -- Au revoir, kilogram.
|
