About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks [Paperback]

A captivating, surprising history of timekeeping and how it has shaped our world. Abundantly clever.... Lovely and engaging ... with myriad fascinations on every page. Fascinating.... Avaluable intellectual journey at a moment ripe for contemplation. Insightful, globe-spanning. Fascinating....with [Rooneys] book in hand, and an eye on the world that sustains us, wemight just save ourselves. People say time is money, but David Rooney knows better. In this information-packed swoop through history and into the future, he exposes times many identities along with the hidden agendas of clocks. Time is knowledge. Time is power. Time is faith. Time is destiny. Not merely an horologists delight, but an ingenious meditation on the nature and symbolism of time-keeping itself. From the medieval hourglass to the Doomsday Clock, from Jaipur to Jodrell Bank, from GMT to GPS, Rooney ticks off time in a highly entertaining series of historical tales and parables which also give pause for thought and sometimes alarming reflections. I will never hear the pips, or ask whats the time? in quite the same way again. A striking success. The measurement of time is a convenience, a jailor, a tyrannical device. David Rooneys delightful and discursive work anatomizes that tyranny. Page after page offers up instances of times ubiquity and its mercurial power to get into the interstices of the everyday. Enthralling and important, David Rooneys passionate enthusiasm for everything clock-related leaps off every page. The vivid writing, engaging stories, and autobiographical details combine to offer a rich and generous picture of the history of clocks, from China and Japan to Central Europe, the Middle East and outer space. In clear, pacey, and evocative prose, Rooneys volume takes in ancient wonders and modern marvels, leaving us at once enlightened and moved. Lovely, personal, idiosyncratic.... Throughout, Rooney entertains with witty clock trivia and anecdotes alongside illuminls{