point size

While it’s common to simply increase the point size to make text easier to read, Mr Stobberup says that readability is actually determined by x-height.

Compared to Sustainable Serif at 12 point size, “for Garamond to have the same size of the letter, it has to be scaled up to 15.2 point size,” Mr Stobberup says.

Typefaces like Garamond also have thinner lines and strokes, which can fade on the page as point size is reduced.

Reducing point size is not always the optimal way to reduce the physical size of a book, Mr Stobberup emphasises.

Most recently published claims for early use of spearthrowers and bows in Europe and Africa have relied exclusively on projectile point size to link them to these weapon systems.