Cambridge University Press This 245-page book gives an answer to the question of how Western Civilization emerged as the dominant culture of the world. Why did science come to its present position as the only viable perception and organization of reality? What is it about the West that may account for the ability of science to flourish more fully than elsewhere? The combination of visualization and measurement is the answer given. In a clear and direct progression, the changes brought about by emphasis upon visualization and measurement are traced through the concepts of time, space, and mathematics as they developed in late medieval western experience. Making the first clocks to measure time, constructing buildings that were measured by uniform quanta to achieve effective proportions, and ordering numbers on something other than an abacus device turn out to be crucial fundamental steps. This is what enabled the West to succeed in controlling the environment as no other culture has. The specific changes in music, painting, and bookkeeping are shown through illustrations and the achievements of the individuals who personify the shifts in their work and crafts. There is at least a hint of a possible connection to Western theology in the citation of St. Bonaventure's concept that "God is light in the most literal sense." The impact of this concept is described as "Westerners, monotheists fascinated with light, gloried in pantometry" (p. 228). Pantometry is reflected in Thorndike's dicta that if anything exists, it exists in quantity and if it exists in quantity, it can be measured. In the contemporary controversy about empirical quantification and qualitative research, this book is a fascinating portrayal of how quantification has changed Western Civilization and is, in fact, the basis for it. Any scientist or consumer of science will find the account both fascinating and a fresh understanding of an acknowledged fact; Western Civilization is now dominant, that has for many remained both a mystery and an offense. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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