History of the Hour: Clocks and Modern Temporal Orders
Today it is impossible to think of a life unregulated by clocks or a day structured other than in 24 60-minute hours. In the Middle Ages it was different, however, and changing. Historian Dohrn-van Rossum (Univ. of Bielefeld, Germany) examines in detail the technical developments that time-keeping mechanisms were undergoing, principally between 1300 and 1600, and the subtle interactions of these developments with European culture (political, religious, economic, and scientific). Some previous theories are debunked. Readable and thoroughly researched, this is required for history of science collections.?Michael D. Cramer, Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ. Libs., BlacksburgCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.