Synopses & Reviews
More than a decade after the publication of his dazzling book on the cultural, technological, and manufacturing aspects of measuring time and making clocks, David Landes has significantly expanded Revolution in Time. In a new preface and scores of updated passages, he explores new findings about medieval and early-modern time keeping, as well as contemporary hi-tech uses of the watch as mini-computer, cellular phone, and even radio receiver or television screen. While commenting on the latest research, Landes never loses his focus on the historical meaning of time and its many perceptions and uses, questions that go beyond history, that involve philosophers and possibly, theologians and literary folk as well.
Review
The book is a pleasure to read, for the quality of the author's thinking, for the slightly acid perceptiveness of his observations, and for the often enchanting aptness of his quotations and examples.
Review
Probably the most widely praised book ever written about the history of timekeeping, this book offers an encyclopedic and colorful account of time measurement from the first weight-driven clocks of the Middle Ages to the atomic clocks of today.
Review
David Landes is a splendid storyteller...The book abounds with anecdotes about people, not only those who made the clocks and watches but also those who bought and used them...Without doubt, this book will become a standard work in the history of timekeeping--and it's also fun to read.
Review
[Landes] has an eye for the odd, amusing detail and manages to convey a great enthusiasm for his subject...His book contains a wealth of piquant information that left me musing when I closed it.
Review
The text scintillates with wise and witty aphorisms...Landes notes that clocks are the product of "ingenuity, craftsmanship, artistry and elegance": so is this book.
Review
Stunning...Revolution in Timefairly radiates the author's own delight. Like the classic clocks it so lovingly describes, it is an exhilarating monument to human ingenuity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 427-498) and index.
About the Author
David S. Landesis Coolidge Professor of History and Professor of Economics, Emeritus, <>Harvard University, and the author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: Finding Time
1. A Magnificent Dead End
2. Why Are the Memorials Late?
3. Are You Sleeping, Brother John?
4. The Greatest Necessity for Every Rank of Men
Part 2: Keeping Time
5. My Time Is My Time
6. Of Toys and Ornaments and Serious Things
7. My Time Is Your Time
8. Approaching the Asymptote
9. The Man Who Stayed to Dinner
10. The French Connection
11. Fame Is the Spur
Part 3: Making Time
12. Clocks in the Belfry
13. The Good Old Days That Never Were
14. The Ups and Downs of International Competition
15. Multum in Parvo
16. Notwithstanding the Barrenness of the Soil
17. Nor Could He Compete with Us
18. Ah, But He Could!
19. Not One in Fifty Thousand
20. Who Killed Cock Robin?
21. The Quartz Revolution
Appendix A: Escapements
Appendix B: Tables
Notes
Credits for Illustrations
Index