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About Time de David Rooney

About Time

Autor David Rooney
en Limba Engleză Paperback – 9 aug 2022

Recomandăm acest volum ca o referință esențială pentru studiile de licență în istorie, sociologie sau istoria tehnicii, oferind o perspectivă interdisciplinară asupra modului în care măsurarea timpului a modelat civilizația umană. În About Time, David Rooney depășește simpla descriere a mecanismelor de precizie pentru a investiga dimensiunea politică și socială a orologeriei. Autorul demonstrează cum elitele au utilizat ceasurile pentru a exercita puterea, a guverna cetățenii și a controla viețile oamenilor, de la cadranele solare ale Romei antice până la observatoarele din epoca Iluminismului. Subliniem structura ingenioasă a cărții, care ancorează momente pivotale ale istoriei în jurul a douăsprezece obiecte concrete, precum ceasul cu apă din China imperială sau ceasul cu plutoniu sigilat sub un parc din Osaka. Această abordare transformă istoria tehnică a orologeriei într-o cronică a ambiției umane. Volumul acoperă aceeași arie tematică precum Time in World History de Peter Stearns, dar cu o abordare mult mai axată pe artefacte specifice și pe impactul lor simbolic, în timp ce lucrarea lui Stearns se concentrează pe tranziția globală către timpul industrial. Față de The Story of the Great Irish Famine, unde David Rooney folosea rigoarea vizuală pentru a documenta o traumă națională, aici autorul îmbină expertiza sa în orologerie cu o narațiune fluidă despre control și rezistență prin intermediul timpului.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9781324021957
ISBN-10: 1324021950
Pagini: 288
Dimensiuni: 138 x 203 x 21 mm
Greutate: 0.26 kg
Editura: W. W. Norton & Company

De ce să citești această carte

Reținem această lucrare pentru capacitatea de a transforma un subiect aparent tehnic într-o analiză socială captivantă. Cititorul va înțelege cum ceasul a devenit un instrument de navigare, de construcție a imperiilor și de gestionare a piețelor financiare. Este o lectură necesară pentru cei care doresc să descopere mecanismele invizibile prin care timpul guvernează societatea modernă, oferind o perspectivă istorică documentată și provocatoare.

Despre autor

David Rooney este istoric, fost curator de timp la Observatorul Regal din Greenwich și un pasionat de o viață al orologeriei. Absolvent al National College of Art and Design, Rooney este și un ilustrator recunoscut, colaborând constant cu publicații precum The Irish Times. Expertiza sa tehnică este dublată de o viziune artistică, lucrările sale fiind expuse în centre culturale de renume precum Titanic Experience din Belfast sau centrul de vizitatori de la Stonehenge. Această dualitate profesională îi permite să analizeze ceasurile nu doar ca mecanisme, ci ca obiecte de design cu o profundă încărcătură istorică.

Descriere scurtă

For thousands of years, people of all cultures have made and used clocks, from the city sundials of ancient Rome to the medieval water clocks of imperial China, hourglasses fomenting revolution in the Middle Ages, the Stock Exchange clock of Amsterdam in 1611, Enlightenment observatories in India, and the high-precision clocks circling the Earth on a fleet of GPS satellites that have been launched since 1978. Clocks have helped us navigate the world and build empires, and have even taken us to the brink of destruction. Elites have used them to wield power, make money, govern citizens, and control lives--and sometimes the people have used them to fight back.
Through the stories of twelve clocks, About Time brings pivotal moments from the past vividly to life. Historian and lifelong clock enthusiast David Rooney takes us from the unveiling of al-Jazari's castle clock in 1206, in present-day Turkey; to the Cape of Good Hope observatory at the southern tip of Africa, where nineteenth-century British government astronomers moved the gears of empire with a time ball and a gun; to the burial of a plutonium clock now sealed beneath a public park in Osaka, where it will keep time for 5,000 years.
Rooney shows, through these artifacts, how time has been imagined, politicized, and weaponized over the centuries--and how it might bring peace. Ultimately, he writes, the technical history of horology is only the start of the story. A history of clocks is a history of civilization.

Recenzii

'About Time is an utterly dazzling book, the best piece of history I have read for a long time. From sundials in ancient Rome to astronomical, water-driven, mechanical and atomic timepieces used throughout history and across cultures, Rooney has written the definitive book on these remarkable objects that give order to everyday life. It is a moving and beautifully written book that even takes us 5,000 years into the future with plutonium clocks ticking away beneath our feet. There will be many puns about this as a timely book; in fact, it is timeless'
'Not merely an horologist's 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 'what's the time?' in quite the same way again. A striking success'
'Fascinating... it's to Rooney's credit that although he clearly knows a colossal amount about clocks, he wears his learning very lightly'
People say time is money, but David Rooney knows better. In this information-packed swoop through history and into the future, he exposes time's many identities along with the hidden agendas of clocks. Time is knowledge. Time is power. Time is faith. Time is destiny
'Enthralling and important, About Time takes us deep into the past and far into the future. With David Rooney as personable guide, we peer inside clocks from Kyoto to Cape Town, discovering what they meant to the diverse people who made them, used them, whose lives were ruled by them. . . . This is a gripping and revealing account of time, and humanity's changing relationship with it'
'David Rooney's 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, Rooney's volume takes in ancient wonders and modern marvels, leaving us at once enlightened and moved'
The measurement of time is a convenience, a jailor, a tyrannical device. David Rooney's delightful and discursive work anatomises that tyranny. Page after page offers up instances of time's ubiquity and its mercurial power to get into the interstices of the everyday
'About Time is startlingly original. Rooney is immensely knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. His engaging
style should make this book, which carries valuable warnings about the future of humanity, a popular-science classic'

'A fascinating and sometimes frightening story. Rooney weaves a convincing tale of the evil uses to which clocks have been put'
'About Timeprovides a fascinating look at timekeeping devices throughout history and the societal roles they've filled. A quick but thoughtful read ensuring you will never look at your alarm clock or smartphone the same way again'

Notă biografică

David Rooney, historian and former curator of timekeeping at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, is a director of the Antiquarian Horological Society and sits on the management committee of the Clockmakers' Museum, the world's oldest clock and watch museum.