Weighing as an Early Global Innovation

Hardly any other technique has more permanently influenced the development of early civilizations than weighing. Using scales and weights, things could be compared in an entirely new way. Equivalencies measured and expressed as the weight of precious metals created the preconditions for a new method of estimating value and facilitating exchange. This set the course for historical developments that continue to have effect even today. The project looks at the long-term history of weighing with a special focus on the question of how the developments of this technology and the cultural evolution of knowledge in different domains have affected one another.