History of the Hour: Clocks and Modern Temporal Orders - Couverture rigide

Rossu, Gerhard Dohrn-Van; Dunlap, Thomas

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0226155102 ISBN 13 : 9780226155104

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 1996

Synopsis

In this analysis of the organization of time, the author examines the history of the mechanical clock and its effects on European society from the late Middle Ages to the industrial revolution. The book provides a discussion of how mechanical clocks functioned in cities and dispels many myths associated with the clock's history. For example, Dohrn-van Rossum argues that in their race to display the grandest clocks, monarchs and princes were more responsible than merchants for introducing clocks into urban environments. This work also questions what is known regarding the clock's invention, including the role of the hour-glass, the arrival of the mechanical clock before scientific rationality, and the obscure history of the escapement, the clock's regulating mechanism. Detailing the clock's effects on social activity, this work presents a picture of a society regulated by the precise measurements of identical hours. From setting time limits on tortures to creating intricate schedules for town councils, schools and religious services, the clock has affected virtually all aspects of society. Restructuring long-distance communication also became vital to modernization as the postal service began measuring its performance with unprecedented accuracy. In showing that the organization of time was not shaped by any single act or group of people, this work reveals the complexity of early modern society and the clock's pervasive influence over an entire culture.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In this sweeping study of the organization of time, Dohrn-van Rossum offers fresh insight into the history of the mechanical clock and its influence on European society from the late Middle Ages to the industrial revolution. Detailing the clock's effects on social activity, he presents a vivid picture of a society regulated by the precise measurement of identical hours. "In tracing the evolution of time consciousness with scholarship and skill . . . Dohrn-van Rossum evokes the many ways that the small moments of life have come to be reckoned with the passage of time". -Dava Sobel, Civilization "Dohrn-van Rossum paints a highly nuanced picture of time's conquest of modern life". -Steven Lagerfeld, Wilson Quarterly "This book is definitive in showing the clock's pervasive influence over European society". -Virginia Quarterly Review" [A] delightful, excellently translated history". -Choice "Dohrn-van Rossum has produced a persuasive and brilliantly documented new understanding of how modern time-consciousness arose". -Owen Gingerich, Nature

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 1996
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0226155102
• ISBN 13: 9780226155104
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 468
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible