Time's Pendulum - From Sundials to Atomic Clocks, the Fascinating History of Timekeeping and How Our Discoveries Changed the World

A perfect balance of science, history, and sociology, Time's Pendulum traces the important developments in humankind's epic quest to measure the hours, days, and years with accuracy, and how our concept of time has changed with each new technological breakthrough. Written in an easy-to-follow chronological format and illustrated with entertaining anecdotes, author Jo Ellen Barnett's history of timekeeping covers everything from the earliest sundials and water clocks, to the pendulum and the more recent advances of battery-powered, quartz-regulated wrist watches and the powerful radioactive "clock," which loses only a few billionths of a second per day, making it nearly ten billion times more accurate than the pendulum clock. A tour of the discoveries and the inventors who endeavored to chart and understand time, Time's Pendulum also explains how each new advance gradually transformed our perception of the world.

Summary

A perfect balance of science, history, and sociology, Time's Pendulum traces the important developments in humankind's epic quest to measure the hours, days, and years with accuracy, and how our concept of time has changed with each new technological breakthrough. Written in an easy-to-follow chronological format and illustrated with entertaining anecdotes, author Jo Ellen Barnett's history of timekeeping covers everything from the earliest sundials and water clocks, to the pendulum and the more recent advances of battery-powered, quartz-regulated wrist watches and the powerful radioactive "clock," which loses only a few billionths of a second per day, making it nearly ten billion times more accurate than the pendulum clock. A tour of the discoveries and the inventors who endeavored to chart and understand time, Time's Pendulum also explains how each new advance gradually transformed our perception of the world.

Product details

• Authors: Jo Barnett, Jo Ellen Barnett
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.03.1999
• EAN: 9780156006491
• ISBN: 978-0-15-600649-1
• No. of pages: 368
• Weight: 378 g
• Series: Harvest Book; Harvest Book
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Sociology, History of Science, Social and cultural history, History of engineering and technology, General and world history, Impact of science and technology on society, Inventions and inventors, Time (chronology), time systems and standards, Military engineering, HISTORY: WORLD, HISTORY: Civilization, SOCIAL SCIENCE: Sociology / General, HISTORY: Ancient / General, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING: Inventions, SCIENCE: History, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING: Military Science, SCIENCE: Time, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING: History, SCIENCE: Applied Sciences, SOCIAL SCIENCE: Technology Studies