Keeping Watch - A History of American Time [Paperback]

Michael O'Malley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1996

Focusing on the period from 1820 to 1920, Keeping Watch details the far-reaching changes in American society brought about by the transition from natural to mechanical sources of time - from farmers' almanacs and religious formulations of time to regional time zones, synchronized watches, and factory punch clocks. Michael O'Malley shows how the pressures of industrialization, the emergence of the telegraph, and the spread of railroads led to a demand for uniform, consistent schedules. Chronicling particular communities' resistance to standard time and, later, daylight saving time, Keeping Watch also examines the cut-and-paste manipulation of "real time" in motion pictures. The cumulative impact of these technological changes, O'Malley argues, was momentous, creating a harsher ethic of punctuality and an unprecedented degree of labor regimentation.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

America reluctantly accepted artificial "standard" time and the "time zone" concept as urbanization increased, the national economy became interdependent and secular humanism triumphed. "Although original and important, the book rests on an aggregation and reiteration of sometimes dry detail--and, much like a textbook, is all too easy to set aside," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

We live in an incredibly time-conscious culture, and yet just over a century ago timekeeping was in chaos, with some cities having multiple criteria for setting their clocks. How time in America became standardized, manipulated, and ultimately our master is the subject of this sociological history. O'Malley (history, NYU) traces how time changed from a natural phenomenon to an industrial (rather than governmental) commodity, concluding with its acceptance as a scientific (rather than religious) entity in the Scopes trial. The chapter on time in motion pictures seems loosely related to the rest of the book, despite the author's efforts to integrate it. Illustrations, indexing, and binding were not available for review. A more expansive history is David S. Landes's Revolution in Time ( LJ 12/15/83). Useful for larger public and university libraries.
- James Moffet, Baldwin P.L., Birmingham, Mich.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (April 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560986727
• ISBN-13: 978-1560986720
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,135,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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