History of the Hour: Clocks and Modern Temporal Orders [Paperback]

Gerhard Dohrn-van Rossum (Author), Thomas Dunlap (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226155110 | ISBN-13: 978-0226155111 | Publication Date: May 8, 1998

In this sweeping study of the organization of time, Dohrn-van Rossum offers fresh insight into the history of the mechanical clock and its influence on European society from the late Middle Ages to the industrial revolution. Detailing the clock's effects on social activity, he presents a vivid picture of a society regulated by the precise measurement of identical hours.

"In tracing the evolution of time consciousness with scholarship and skill . . . Dohrn-van Rossum evokes the many ways that the small moments of life have come to be reckoned with the passage of time."—Dava Sobel, Civilization

"Dohrn-van Rossum paints a highly nuanced picture of time's conquest of modern life."—Steven Lagerfeld, Wilson Quarterly

"This book is definitive in showing the clock's pervasive influence over European society."—Virginia Quarterly Review

"[A] delightful, excellently translated history."—Choice

"Dohrn-van Rossum has produced a persuasive and brilliantly documented new understanding of how modern time-consciousness arose."—Owen Gingerich, Nature

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

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., Blacksburg
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Scientific American

Dohrn-van Rossum, who teaches medieval and early modern history at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, has researched his subject so profoundly that he can append to this book 81 pages of notes-mostly bibliographical-running to 948 entries. He treats the subject profoundly, too, dealing not only with the history of timekeeping devices from the sundial to the cesium clock but also with changes in the human conception of time from the cyclical order of "Church's time" to the linear order of "merchant's time." The prose sometimes plods, and key points are not always crisply stated, but the story of timekeeping is here in wonderful depth. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 463 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226155110
• ISBN-13: 978-0226155111
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #792,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting subject, less interesting writing, August 11, 2009

By 

Eike - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the Hour: Clocks and Modern Temporal Orders (Hardcover)

Picked this book up on a whim, because the subject itself sounded fascinating. And I was right, to a certain extent: the details about how our concept of "time" has changed throughout the years, of when clocks were introduced and how different factors played into it, all of that is extremely interesting.

However, the author is NOT writing for a general public. There seems to be an underlying assumption that not only is the reader already intimately familiar with clocks, but that the reader is also well-versed in a variety of European languages. Random phrases in Latin, German, and Italian are thrown around, with no note as to what the translation means. The book could have benefited from footnotes to clarify meanings.

At times, the book also felt disjointed, jumping around from one time period to the next and then back again. That made it hard to keep track of the chronology, somewhat ironic in a book about the "history of the hour." (Unless the entire book is supposed to be a parable of the clock's/the hour's development, in which case it goes over my head.)

All in all, I would recommend the book only for people who have the patience for dense books, and are willing to look up all the foreign words the author has not bothered to explain.