Grade standardization of grain required contestable human judgment.

Evidence

The standardization of grain was both a technical and a social process. In Chicago the bushel, originally a unit of volume, became a unit of weight in order to permit measurement on scales on top of each elevator. A team of inspectors employed first by the Chicago Board of Trade and then by the state of Illinois checked that the scales were fair and made the inevitably contestable judgments that the contents of this bin were good enough to be classed as “No. 1 white winter wheat,” which had to “be plump, well cleaned and free from other grains,” while that bin contained only “No. 2,” which was defined as “sound, but not clean enough for No. 1” (Cronon 1991, p. 118). — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 72

Categorization

• SHARE: The bushel shifting from a unit of volume to a unit of weight to permit scale measurement is a precise, quirky infrastructure detail worth sending to someone interested in measurement history.
• XREF: connects to: Standardization emerged when grain elevators severed grain from its grower.; Reliable subjective ratings are prerequisites for validating technical measurements — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 54; Judging requires selecting relevant facts and evaluating relative values — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 165 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Judging requires selecting relevant facts and evaluating relative values #expands (0.80) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 165
• Reliable subjective ratings are prerequisites for validating technical measurements #expands (0.75) — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 54