In what is called the English, or customary, system of measurement, there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, 16£ feet in a rod, and 5,280 feet in a mile. Why such odd numbers? Well, it's...
Making things even
There was one trouble with the way people first measured things with their arms, hands, and feet. Some people have longer arms, bigger feet, and wider hands than others. If you and your father each...
Balances and coins
When people first began to raise crops, they had to carry the grain from the field to a storage place. They soon learned that they could carry two loads easily by hanging one load at each end of a...
Feet and fingers, hands and arms
On a hillside, near the entrance to a cave, a woman sat busily at work. She wore a dress made of animal skins, and around her neck were strings of beads made of sea shells and animals' teeth. The...
How long, how fast, how hot, how heavy?
Feet and meters, pounds and grams Hours and months and days. How did we come to measure things In so many different ways? It all goes back to long ago, In many ancient lands, When people began to...
Holmes and the e
In the story called Adventure of the Dancing Men, Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective, solves a mystery by figuring out a message that is in code. Holmes is aware that in English the letter e is...
Sharing birthdays
What would you do if you were invited to two birthday parties on the same day? Well, you would probably go to the party of the person who had asked you first. That would be the fair thing to do....
Buttons and boxes
What about games that use only one die? Do you think any one number will come up more often than another when you throw only one die? No, it won't. On one die, there are six numbers, so you have one...
Game chances
You're playing a game of Monopoly with a friend. You're coming to some of his property that has hotels on it. And he's nearing some of your property that also has hotels. If you roll either a 4 or 5...
Ali Kwazoor’s choice
Prince Ali Kwazoor of Zuristan had been on a long and dangerous journey. He had sailed stormy seas and crossed burning deserts! He had fought fierce dragons and evil monsters! But now his journey was...
