The creation of numbers by robust apparatus clearly facilitates communication and trust. There was a metropolitan hub from where instruments circulated to many places in the country such as town gates, turnpikes, mills, and harbours. In these places, tax was raised on merchandise such as agricultural produce and alcohol, and standardized weights and measures were employed to determine the tax due. Because instruments were constantly being compared to other instruments, the numbers generated in different places could be trusted to be of the same kind this contrasted with earlier times where units of measurement were local. The questions addressed to this topic will include the following.
Science can help commodify even something as unruly as x-rays.
In Weimar, Germany, a standard of x-ray intensity was created that enabled radiation to be priced. Robust instrumentation was developed that circulated so that routine calibration took place. With this standard, prices could be, and were, negotiated nationally between the radiological profession and the health insurance companies. Maybe the point is that quantification changes the parameters for the process of consensus-making. After all, a good scientific experiment is very convincing.