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Time's pendulum

Jo Ellen Barnett

1998334 pagesabout 5–8 hours
1998
first published
  • 1998Plenum Trade · 340 pages · ENGISBN 9780306457876
  • 1999Harcourt Brace · 334 pages · ENGISBN 9780156006491
  • 1999Bt Bound · ENGISBN 9780613168632

Jo Ellen Barnett takes us a step further in our perpetual quest to comprehend time. She bridges the gap between the mechanical clocks which record the fleeting moment as it passes, and the powerful radioactive "clocks" which have opened up to us the eons of the earth's history, by showing that both are based upon the counting of identical time segments. Beginning with a historical look at clocks to tell the time of day, she discusses the impact of such inventions as the church bell, the pendulum, and the wristwatch on human culture, and explains how they've gradually transformed our perception not only of the world, but of time itself.

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