Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy.

ANDRO LINKLATER

On the banks of the Ohio River--in East Liverpool, Ohio--stands a marker that reads, "The Point of the Beginning." Few people today take note of the words, or understand the significance of the land survey that originated at this spot on Sept. 30, 1785. Linklater presents a stirring account of the work that surveyors did from East Liverpool to the Pacific Ocean and north-to-south from the Canadian border to Mexico. The author illustrates how the effort created a pattern of land ownership unique in history. As that story unfolds, so does the tale of the system of measurement used to chart 3 million square miles of territory. This choice kept this country's dimensions in acres and miles instead of hectares and kilometers. Linklater paints fascinating portraits of men from Ferdinand Hassler, who introduced the American Customary System of measurement used today, to Edward Gunter, who in the sixteenth century invented the surveyor's chain that was central to the survey and this country's way of measuring land since its beginnings. Walker, 2002, 310 p., hardcover, $26.00.