Mapping Time : The Calendar [Hardcover]

E. G. Richards (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198504136 | ISBN-13: 978-0198504139 | Publication Date: March 4, 1999 | Edition: 1ST

This fascinating book fully addresses a topic of much general interest by drawing together a wealth of diverse material on the much-trusted (and rarely disputed) phenomenon we know as the calendar. From the fundamentals of astronomy to the world's ancient time-keeping schemes, from the development of the modern-day calendar to the precise calculation of what happens when (as in, how does one arrive at the date for Easter Sunday?), this is a skillful yet approachable discussion of the calendar from both the historical and contemporary perspectives. Readers will even learn how to perform experiments and calculations for themselves by using such basic techniques as stargazing and simple mathematics.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Both of these books are devoted to the question of how the world came to agree on what day it was. Both are written for a general audience although Richards is an academic, and his book is the more scholarly. Richards also has a more global perspective, whereas Duncan focuses on the calendar in the West.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The approach of the millennium has generated a spate of books on the history of our calendar. Here's an especially good one. According to Richards, the calendar originated in humanitys desire to track the natural phenomena on which life in primiti ve society depended. Seasonal cycles of crop growth and animal migrations relate to the sun; tides relate to phases of the moon; and the cycle of dark and light caused by Earth's rotation makes itself manifest every day. But the relationships among these three astronomical phenomena cannot be expressed simply. Much of the history of calendars has to do with compromises made in trying to juxtapose these three cycles. At the same time, in almost every culture, the religious impulse has imposed its overlay o n the calendar. Days of the week (an arbitrary but convenient division of time) were given names related to ancient gods or to planets associated with them spiritually; each of the major religions boasts its own calendar, with its own succession of season s and holy days. After outlining the science of calendar-making, Richards describes many calendars used over the ages, including the Mayan and Aztec, and the French Revolution's attempt to divorce timekeeping from religion. The mathematics of calendars is given due attention, especially the calculation of the day of the week for past dates, and conversions between calendarse.g., from our Gregorian calendar to the Jewish or Mayan counterparts. A final section discusses problems caused in Western calendars by the shifting date of Easter, estimated by a complex formula, and a major bone of contention among the various denominations. Appendices provide useful astronomical constants, the names of the days of the week in sundry languages, the French Revolutiona ry calendar, and a glossary of technical terms. Clearly written and filled with detail, this will be a strong contender in the calendar-book sweepstakes. (76 illustrations) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1ST edition (March 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198504136
• ISBN-13: 978-0198504139
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,560,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Past Perfect, September 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History (Paperback)

One of several books written in anticipation of the millennium, "Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History" by E. G. Richards suffers from an especially heavy burden of typographical errors. As can be seen on the author's own web page, the address of which also is incorrect, there are hundreds of errors, some of which affect the accuracy of the account. For example, on page 208, January 1 came to mark the beginning of the Roman civil year in 153 BC, not 158 BC, and was in response to the Second Celtiberian War in Spain. Rather than wait until the middle of March for consuls to assume office, the new year was moved to the first of January so the Roman commander could depart with his legions that much sooner. It is a pity that so many errors compromise an otherwise informative history. Until they can be corrected, a better introduction to the calendar is "The Oxford Companion to the Year."

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but flawed, May 18, 2000

By 

David Adaskin (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History (Paperback)

Very interesting history of the major calendar systems used around the world, both in the present day and in the past. It also gets into the mathematics of how to convert between calendar systems, including algorithms suitable for computer programming. Unfortunately, there are numerous typographical errors in the narrative and in the algorithms! The word "temperature" where the author clearly meant "temperate", substitution of "*" for "-" in a formula, etc. So far, I have been able to correct the formula for computing the day of the week and the formula for computing the date of Easter. I'm not looking forward to tackling the other algorithms. Did anyone proofread this before it was printed? Maybe the publisher could put up an errata sheet on their web site.

Good for the history, but be prepared to do some algebra if you want to use the algorithms.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Erudite But Fun, July 17, 2003

By 

John D. Cofield - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mapping Time: The Calendar and Its History (Paperback)

This is a nice examination of the different calendars and methods of mapping time that humans have employed over the centuries. On the surface it has the air of a dusty reference book, but inside the author is often witty and amusing as he covers the histories and backgrounds of different dating systems. I'm especially impressed by his inclusion of the different algorithms used to calculate dates, of Easter for example, which are marvelously complex. Most readers will never have occasion to use these algorithms, but its nice to know they're there. I also appreciated the charts and the glossary of the more obscure calendrical terms.