Clocks and Culture: 1300-1700 [Paperback]

Carlo M. Cipolla (Author), Anthony Grafton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Norton Library | Publication Date: August 2003

The history of the clock opens a window on how different cultures have viewed time and on Europe's path to industrialization.

How did a time-keeping device affect the growth of crafts guilds and the scientific research that led to the Industrial Revolution? Clocks and Culture is a brief history of the changes wrought by and on Europe over four hundred years due to technological advances in timekeeping and the rise of a time-aware culture. In his introduction, Anthony Grafton, Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, puts this classic book in perspective. 14 b/w illustrations

Editorial Reviews

Review

Cipolla has a sharp eye for the heaven in a grain of sand. He takes a prosaic piece of hardware and uses it as a path into some of the central themes of history.... Imaginative and wide-ranging. (The Economist )

The story is fascinating and is told with the author's customary enthusiasm and lucid scholarship. (Times Literary Supplement )

Brilliant.... Demonstrates the economic and technological development by which the continent thrust into the forefront of civilization. (The Listener )

About the Author

Carlo M. Cipolla was the author of Before the Industrial Revolution and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He died in 2000.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393324435
• ISBN-13: 978-0393324433
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant social history of clocks, November 12, 2009

By 

IWilliam Stonehill "Albert Elbert" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Clocks and Culture: 1300-1700 (Paperback)

It's surprising to learn that English was not Cipolla's first language. The language of this book is beautiful and terse, and able in a few words to capture entire eras and centuries. Speaking as a practicing horologist, I'm particularly impressed by the depth and width of Cipolla's research and the fluency with which it is all brought together. Like his "Guns, Sails and Empire", this is one of the best books written on the subject. Cipolla's ability to take a long view spanning centuries is unequaled and memorable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My dad loves it, August 3, 2008

By 

Allen97 (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clocks and Culture: 1300-1700 (Paperback)

My dad's always been interested in clocks; when I saw this book, I bought it for him for his birthday.

I've received TWO emails telling me how much he's enjoyed it. :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and enlightening, June 7, 2008

By 

T. Duffy - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Clocks and Culture: 1300-1700 (Paperback)

This book was a real surprise - the title doesn't sound very promising, but it was fascinating. The development of reliable time-keeping devices had a revolutionary impact on society, and we're unlikely to grasp the significance from our perspective on this side of the revolution without a book like this. It was a good read, and an enlightening one.