Click the cover to order your copy!
Illustrated by Philip Reeve d5j6y
This book was
originally
published in 2000
by Scholastic Ltd
with a different cover

Desperate Measures 2sh3p

Suitable for ages 8 upwards 3y333o

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Everything can be measured, and this book tells you how to do it. Length, area, volume, weight, time, density, curry stains, speed... they're all in here.

Ever wondered how to:

  • weigh a bogie
  • fit 35 students into a small car
  • make an angle of 1 degree
  • measure Roman miles with one stilletoe shoe?

This book's got the lot.

Of course we also see what happens when Pongo serves Veronica with rocket fuel soup and how Dolly Snowlips causes the gangsters to lose their tros. There's a Gollark invasion, a couple of diabolical Professor Fiendish traps and the big feature film stars Archimedes in "A Question of Principle".

Don't forget to click the EXTRA links for more details that we didn't have room for in the books!

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CONTENTS:

Don't Mess With Measurements 725z61

When you're first born they weigh you, and when you depart they measure you for a box. In fact right through your life you can't escape measurements, so it's as well to know all about them. We also find out what happens when Blade Boccelli and the boys use an elastic rope and end up doing a stretch.

How Long Is A Line? i1q4d

Simple measurements, getting the right units and rounding off. There's even a selection of rulers to use giving measurements in everything from Angstroms to Light Years.

Pecks Palms Pints and Pennyweights... or how many hands does a horse need? 3j3p47

Why old fashioned measurements are murderous, why we should all appreciate the French, and the ridiculous but true story of why a multi-million dollar space craft went missing.

Metres for Everything 736i6d

This section explains how to write ANY length in metres using the SI system, and how calculators display fabulously big numbers. We also find how a tiny "-" sign saves Earth from the Evil Gollarks.
EXTRA - The Area Calculator

The Shrinking Kilogram! The exact weight of a kilogramme is measured against one very special kg weight which was made in England out of platinum-iridium back in 1889, and ever since it has been kept in a sealed vault in Paris. BUT... over the last 114 years it's got lighter thanks to microscopic surface abrasion. (Don't ask us what that is because we don't know.) The difference is similar to having a 1kg bag of sugar and removing a single grain. So if you buy a bag of sugar and find a grain missing, you know who to blame. 4q6m56

Weight - and why nearly everybody makes a MASSIVE mistake 1y3l6h

What happens to your weight in outer space, and how to weigh a dead fly.

Spangled, Tangled and Dangled Angles 4o6is

Pongo and Veronica demonstrate degrees, Professor Fiendish tries to trap you on a cliff top and what are "grads" and "radians"?

Lumps, Bumps and a Question of Principle 8c41

Pongo McWhiffy accidentally makes rocket fuel soup as we discover how to measure the volume of an elephant. There's also the story of Archimedes and the cheating goldsmith set out as a superb full length cartoon feature. It's the best thing you'll ever see in a maths book. EXTRA - Some Unusual Units

The Saddest Measurement of All 134u6m

...and what happens when you put egg and sprout broth in a space rocket. Whoops!



LINKS:

Murderous Maths Main Index Page