Double Entry [electronic resource] : How the merchants of Venice shaped the modern world - and how their invention could make or break the planet

A fascinating exploration of how a simple system used to measure and record wealth spawned a cultural revolution. Prepare to have your idea of accounting changed forever. Our world is governed by the numbers generated by the accounts of nations and corporations. We depend on these numbers to direct our governments, our institutions, corporations, economies, societies. But where did they come from and how did they become so powerful? The answer to these questions begins in the Dark Ages in northern Italy with a new form of record keeping perfected by the merchants of Venice called double-entry bookkeeping. The story of double entry stars a Renaissance monk, mathematician, magician and constant companion of Leonardo da Vinci, his 27-page treatise for merchants, renaissances in art and mathematics, and revolutions in communications and industry. The rise and metamorphosis of double-entry bookkeeping is one of history's best-kept secrets and one of its most important untold tales. Why? First, because it made possible the wealth and cultural efflorescence that was the Renaissance. Second, because it enabled capitalism to flourish, so changing the economies of the world forever. Third, because over several centuries it grew into a sophisticated system of numbers which in the twenty-first century governs the global economy. And finally, and most significantly, because today bookkeeping has the potential to make or break the planet. As Guardian journalist Jonathan Watts wrote in October 2010: 'So it has come to this. The global biodiversity crisis is so severe that brilliant scientists, political leaders, eco-warriors, and religious gurus can no longer save us from ourselves. The military are powerless. But there may be one last hope for life on earth: accountants.' Drawing together a 15th century Venetian monk, Leonardo da Vinci, Josiah Wedgwood and the rise of corporate capitalism, Jane Gleeson-White argues that double-entry bookkeeping is one of history's best -- kept secrets and most important untold tales. Our world is governed by the numbers generated by the accounts of nations and corporations. We depend on these numbers to direct our governments, organisations, economies, societies. But where did they come from -- and how did they become so powerful? The answer to these questions begins in the Dark Ages, with the emergence in northern Italy of a new form of accounting called double-entry bookkeeping. The story of double entry reaches from the Crusades through the Renaissance to the factories of industrial Britain and the policymakers of the Great Depression and the Second World War. At its heart stands a Renaissance monk, mathematician and magician, and his celebrated treatise for merchants. With double entry came the wealth and cultural efflorescence that was the Renaissance, a new scientific worldview, and a new economic system: capitalism. Over the past century accounting has flourished to an astonishing degree, despite the many scandals it has left in its wake. The figures double entry generates have become a sophisticated system of numbers which in the twenty-first century rule the global economy, manipulated by governments, financial institutions and the quant nerds of Wall Street. They do, however, fall short when it comes to measuring our most precious resources -- health, happiness and the environment -- and Jane Gleeson-White makes a strong case for reconfiguring double-entry bookkeeping to better reflect the needs of our planet Longitude meets The Big Short in this fascinating look at how a simple system of measuring income spawned a cultural revolution and continues to underpin modern finance, with destructive consequences. A fascinating look at how a simple system of measuring income spawned a cultural revolution that continues to underpin modern finance, with destructive consequences