YSM Issue 96.2

MEASURE FOR MEASURE
BY HENRY CHEN
IMAGE COURTESY OF MEASURE FOR MEASURE
SCIENCE
How would you rank the following: Friends, The Office, and Modern
IN
Family? How do you—and other people—differentiate between your
favorite shows, books, and podcasts? Is there a universally defined
scale? What are some factors we use to compare? These are all questions that
“Measure for Measure” seeks to explore.
Run by the organization Ministry of Ideas and co-hosted by Liya Rechtman
and Andrew Middleton, “Measure for Measure” is a limited podcast series
that investigates a different form of measurement in our daily lives. The
nine episodes, which range from nine to twenty-five minutes in length, are
perfect to squeeze in during a walk between classes. The podcast covers topics
spanning the Scoville spice scale, used to measure the pungency of chili
peppers, to star “heartbeats,” which are pulses that cause a star to expand and
contract, leading to variations in brightness. Most importantly, each episode
tries to answer the overarching question: why has measurement been crucial
throughout human history?
For example, in episode two, Rechtman talks about how the Talmud, a central
Judaic text, contains a number of references to measurements, like how much
matzah to eat during Passover, that were based on the size of other foods, like
olives. Because olive sizes have varied over the centuries, many Jewish people
today have tried to update the medieval measurement to determine how much
matzah to eat. The story of the olive is one of unity across time—how even
though Jewish people are separated from their ancestors by thousands of years,
they can still celebrate in the same way, following similar cultural guidelines.
Importantly, each episode presents a narrative about using measurement as a
way for us to (re)connect with the rest of the world—both past and present.
As I made my way through the series, it became clear where each of the cohosts’
passions came into the episodes. Rechtman is a Jewish climate activist,
while Middleton is a cartographer and ocean enthusiast. As a result, each episode
was a science lesson infused with niche, thoroughly interesting historical and
cultural facts—an engaging format that sparks questions about the intersection
between the humanities and science. For instance, in episode three, we learn about
the Mohs scale for categorizing the hardness of rocks and how it was created by
the Habsburg Empire to distinguish itself from competing empires and increase
national unity. These stories reinforce the idea that measurement isn’t restricted
to the International System of Units we use in chemistry class. Instead, it extends
far beyond, into almost every facet of human life.
At the end of the nine episodes, I still haven’t found a definitive scale to rank
podcasts, but I have learned the importance of tools for measurement in our lives
and how they turn a continuous reality with infinite possibilities into discrete
categories—and maybe that’s the point. For its combination of historical facts,
scientific trivia, and broad cultural trends, I’m placing “Measure for Measure”
in the category of “highly recommended.” ■
T
36 Yale Scientific Magazine May 2023 www.yalescientific.org