This essay peers through the peephole of the word unit to reveal the word’s journey across multiple fields from the mid-nineteenth century through the present. A keyword hidden in plain sight, unit links science and the world of measurement to society (family units), politics (political units), architecture (housing units), cities (neighborhood units), and, more recently, big data, the carceral state (crime units), and managerial oversight.

中文翻译：

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单元

本文通过单词单元的窥视孔窥视了该单词从19世纪中叶到现在跨多个领域的历程。隐藏在普通视线中的关键字，将科学和测量的世界与社会（家庭单位），政治（政治单位），建筑（住房单位），城市（邻里单位）以及最近的大数据（机构）联系起来国家（犯罪单位）和管理监督。