Markets and measurements in nineteenth century Britain / Aashish Velkar.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover; Markets and Measurements in Nineteenth-Century Britain; Series; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; Acknowledgements; 1: Markets and measurements: An introduction; Metrology, mensuration and measurement practices; What made measurements reliable?; The State and the science of measurements; Was Britain unique?; The economy, markets and measurement practices; Economic and industrial growth; Business and industry: organisation and structure; Standardisation and the sameness of things; Dynamics of contractual liability; Politics of the market.

Implications2: Inching towards the metre: Measurements, metrology and reform; Nature and variability of historical measurements; Variation in measurements; Reforming Britains weights and measures; Imperial measures of 1824; Initiatives for reform; Further reforms; Reforming European metrology; The metric revolution (c. 1790-1840); International acceptance (1851-1875); Metric system and British defiance; Trade, empire and metrology; Importance of local measurement practices; 3: Mensuration and local measurement practices; Metrological realism and measurement conventions.

Understanding mensurationComparison; Contextualisation; Measurement tools: instruments, protocols and standards; Standards; Standard setting and standardisation; Mensuration and local measurement practices; 4: Governance and regulation: Standardising measurements in the London coal trade (c.1830); Structure of the London coal trade; Measurements used in the London coal trade; The coal bushel; Heaped measures; The ingrain; Weight-volume conversions; Reforming the coal trade (1800-1830); Significance of the reforms; Conclusions.

5: Competition, cooperation and standardisation: Uniform measurements in the British wire industry (c.1880)Wire manufacturing in England; Wire sizes: the source of transactional problems; Wire gauges: the source of unreliable measurements; Standardising measurements: a solution for transactional problems; Early attempts; Competing proposals and standardisation: 1878-1883; Competition, coordination and negotiation for standard wire sizes; Gauges after 1883; Conclusions; 6: Globalisation, commodity grading and quality measurements in nineteenth-century wheat markets.

British wheat markets in the nineteenth centuryMeasuring quality: a supply-side perspective; Measuring quality: a demand-side perspective; The case of natural weight measurements; Measurements, grading and institutions; Conclusions; 7: 'Man is the measure of all things': Conclusions and Implications; Historical (re)interpretation; Implications; Appendix 2.1: Milestones in the international acceptance of the metric system; Appendix 4.1: Analysis of local practices and measurement inconsistencies in the London coal trade; Variability due to conversion; Appendix 4.2: Financial details of the metage system operated by the city of London.

An economic and social history of measurements in nineteenth-century British markets.

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