About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks
- Downloads：1664
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-09 09:50:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David Rooney
- ISBN：0241370493
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
'An utterly dazzling book， the best piece of history I have read for a long time' Jerry Brotton， author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps
'Not merely an horologist's delight， but an ingenious meditation on the nature and symbolism of time-keeping itself' Richard Holmes
Since the dawn of civilisation， we have kept time。 But time has always been against us。
From the city sundials of ancient Rome to the era of the smartwatch， clocks have been used throughout history to wield power， make money， govern citizens and keep control。 Sometimes， also with clocks， we have fought back。
In About Time， time expert David Rooney tells the story of timekeeping， and how it continues to shape our modern world。 In twelve chapters， demarcated like the hours of time， we meet the greatest inventions in horological history， from medieval water clocks to monumental sundials， and from coastal time signals to satellites in earth's orbit。 We discover how clocks have helped us navigate the world， build empires and even taken us to the brink of destruction。
Over the course of this global journey Rooney demonstrates how each of these clocks has shone a spotlight onto human civilisation， and shows us the very real effects clocks continue to have on everything from capitalism， to politics， to our very identity。
This is the story of time。 And the story of time is the story of us。
'Not merely an horologist's delight， but an ingenious meditation on the nature and symbolism of time-keeping itself' Richard Holmes
Since the dawn of civilisation， we have kept time。 But time has always been against us。
From the city sundials of ancient Rome to the era of the smartwatch， clocks have been used throughout history to wield power， make money， govern citizens and keep control。 Sometimes， also with clocks， we have fought back。
In About Time， time expert David Rooney tells the story of timekeeping， and how it continues to shape our modern world。 In twelve chapters， demarcated like the hours of time， we meet the greatest inventions in horological history， from medieval water clocks to monumental sundials， and from coastal time signals to satellites in earth's orbit。 We discover how clocks have helped us navigate the world， build empires and even taken us to the brink of destruction。
Over the course of this global journey Rooney demonstrates how each of these clocks has shone a spotlight onto human civilisation， and shows us the very real effects clocks continue to have on everything from capitalism， to politics， to our very identity。
This is the story of time。 And the story of time is the story of us。
Reviews
Mike
，
I struggled to really get into this。 Contains many interesting anecdotes， but the constant “time is power， time is control，” narrative was a bit overdone， and occasionally a stretch。 The concepts are great and thought provoking， but this would have been better as a long form article than a short book。
S C
，
It's a short book， yet quickly runs out of material。 Not because there aren't historical clocks to be discussed。 Big Ben is glossed over。 And Makkah Clock Royal Tower is never even mentioned。 It's because the point of the book isn't a true attempt to track the history of civilization through clocks。 It's an effort to view the history of clocks through the prism of early 2020s woke culture。 To summarize: If a white/western/European/American person developed the technology， then it was done with r It's a short book， yet quickly runs out of material。 Not because there aren't historical clocks to be discussed。 Big Ben is glossed over。 And Makkah Clock Royal Tower is never even mentioned。 It's because the point of the book isn't a true attempt to track the history of civilization through clocks。 It's an effort to view the history of clocks through the prism of early 2020s woke culture。 To summarize: If a white/western/European/American person developed the technology， then it was done with racist and/or oppressive intentions。 If anyone else did it， then it was a moment of genius for the human race。 。。。more
William Smith
，
If you enjoy technology and history， don't let my 3-star rating stop you from reading this book。 It had a couple of chapters that I found to be absolute gems。My biggest critique of David Rooney's About Time is that it could've used more polishing and editing。 The narrative waffled between how clocks impacted civilization and Rooney's personal viewpoint （almost to being preachy）。 I'd rather it had stayed unbiased but I do appreciate Rooney is an expert in his field and of all people he'd have ins If you enjoy technology and history， don't let my 3-star rating stop you from reading this book。 It had a couple of chapters that I found to be absolute gems。My biggest critique of David Rooney's About Time is that it could've used more polishing and editing。 The narrative waffled between how clocks impacted civilization and Rooney's personal viewpoint （almost to being preachy）。 I'd rather it had stayed unbiased but I do appreciate Rooney is an expert in his field and of all people he'd have insight to share。I found the chapter "Empires" （clock #6） absolutely fascinating and wish more of the book had gone into the technical details this one did about time-syncing and navigation。 And for the same reasons the chapter "War" （clock #11） had the same effect on me。Would have enjoyed more technical descriptions of how clocks work along with the history provided。 。。。more
Shell
，
Hands down， one of the most enjoyable， informative， addictive history books I've ever had the pleasure to read。 David Rooney is not a historian who has just picked the topic of clocks to write about but he is a life long expert and enthusiast for every topic surrounding time。 The mechanical pieces that count seconds and hours， right from sand dials to the fraction of a second time stamps used on the internet stock exchanges， the political and social effect that living to a clock organised life h Hands down， one of the most enjoyable， informative， addictive history books I've ever had the pleasure to read。 David Rooney is not a historian who has just picked the topic of clocks to write about but he is a life long expert and enthusiast for every topic surrounding time。 The mechanical pieces that count seconds and hours， right from sand dials to the fraction of a second time stamps used on the internet stock exchanges， the political and social effect that living to a clock organised life has， and ranging through such diverse topics as art， books， war， astronomy， astrology， train time tables and drinking up times in pubs。 I could not begin to describe how much I loved every minute of reading this book。 Although there are 12 main clocks， David just uses these as a spring board for each chapter's delights and even as changing locations and centuries are crafted into a magical story it never feels disjointed and always gives just enough information to leave the reader satisfied。 I only had a vague passing interest in clocks， but this isn't really for people interested in the physical pieces， though it has some beautiful descriptions of mechanical clocks， such as al-Jazari's Castle clock。 It is more about how the awareness of time has altered history and been used for good and evil。 I read the audio version， which David reads himself with his lovely gentle North East accent。Since finishing reading the book， I keep thinking about all the different parts of it and going back to look up various facts or just to reread sections。 It will be one of my most treasured books and I wish I could force everyone to read it too so they don't miss out on such a wonderful experience。 。。。more
Jenn Adams
，
Really enjoyed this。 NOT about the literal workings of clocks and NOT about the philosophical/physics concept of ~time~。 Instead， we go through the different ways that time and clocks have been used in the context of human civilization。 Would definitely recommend。Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review。
Marks54
，
There are lots of books “about time” in one way or another。 You can read brief histories of time or book on the “order of time” by physicists （Hawking， Rovelli）。 There are histories of how changing in keeping time and thinking about it have changed economic life （Landes）。 There are even books by philosophers considering how assumptions about time shape one’s cosmology （Collingwood）。David Rooney’s new book provides a personal history of time in terms of twelve clocks， indicating how our views of There are lots of books “about time” in one way or another。 You can read brief histories of time or book on the “order of time” by physicists （Hawking， Rovelli）。 There are histories of how changing in keeping time and thinking about it have changed economic life （Landes）。 There are even books by philosophers considering how assumptions about time shape one’s cosmology （Collingwood）。David Rooney’s new book provides a personal history of time in terms of twelve clocks， indicating how our views of time have changed over the years and what that means。 To be clear， in discussing “twelve clocks”， it is not an itemized listing of a dozen specific clocks， but rather different general types of clocks， with a number of examples presented and discussed。 So certain types of clocks came into use at different times and were used in different ways。I like discussion of historic clocks， but that is not the program here。 Rooney’s book is brilliant in situation his discussion of different types of clocks in their historical context to show how they were used and how the meaning of the clock is best identified by looking at its use in context。 He presents a rich， thoughtful， and well documented discussion in all the chapters and the chapters differ widely from each other， although there are of necessity some overlaps。 This makes the book very different from the typical “top N examples of X” format that is fairly common in trying to hook an audience。I do not want to go into too much detail on the chapters - this is a book that should be read by many。 The major use areas can be anticipated somewhat: political power， military prowess， wealth and economic success， religion and worship， scientific development。 Readers could have guessed this ahead of time so I am not giving anything away。 If there is a broad intellectual punchline to the book， it is that clocks have been and are likely to remain instruments of power for national elites - which occasionally generate resistance in their wake。 It is a good story that rings true and is well told。Mr。 Rooney seems very capable of guiding readers along。 Each chapter is filled with details about its subject。 There is also a lots about the details of how big changes were put into practice。 His discussion of how the longitude problem was addressed and solved is a good example， but there are other examples throughout the book。 I also enjoyed the variety of examples presented and discussed， in that the book highlights new sites to visit once European travel becomes more possible。I highly recommend the book。 。。。more
Fred
，
This is a very interesting well researched book。 I learned so much about the topic and have a deeper insight into how various time pieces were used and developed。
Cheryl
，
Squee？ The blurb for the article in The Economist sounded really interesting and rather important。 North Korea recently adjusted 1/2 hour off from Japan， or something？
Gregory Cornelius
，
David Rooney's About Time builds a compelling historical narrative for horology as a useful tool for understanding culture。 David Rooney's About Time builds a compelling historical narrative for horology as a useful tool for understanding culture。 。。。more
Mat
，
Kir*
Kalyan Turaga
，
Nice book。 I like the topic and theme of the book。 Author did his research and presented it in an interesting way。 I got to know about many new things， events， people while listening to the book （ I listened to audio version of the book in Audible）。 I want my kids to read this book。 I felt book was very short and did not get enough of it。 Listening it again。 ;-）
David Burris
，