About this title: The mechanical clock was one of the technologial advances that brought Western civilization to a position of world leadership. This book details how and why this breakthrough occured through a historical journey that takes in the 14th-century mechanical revolution, Elizabeth I's finger watch, the success of Swiss watchmakers, fakes and smuggling, ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Belknap Press
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780674768000ISBN:0674768000
Description: Acceptable. Former Library Book, usual stamps and stickers. Stain on a few pages at the bottom. Cover worn. Pages and binding good. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Cover edges have some slight wear, corner tips curl up a tiny bit, several crease lines run down the spine otherwise this book is in good reading cond. read more
Description: Good. 1983-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 1983-Hardcover---Dust jacket shows substantial shelf-wear. -Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Edition: Presumed First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780674768000ISBN:0674768000
Description: Very Good. No Jacket Issued. This is a large soft cover Trade Paperback book. Presumed 1st edition, no other dates. This is a nice clean paperback book with a bright cover. The binding is good and the spine is smooth. These pages are very clean, bright and unmarked. There are a number of illustrations within the book. 482 pages including index. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Belknap Press
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780674768024ISBN:0674768027
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Clean, crisp pages-full-color photographs-tight binding-bookplate of previous owner inside front cover-otherwise great copy! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Belknap Press. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Fine. 0674768000 Harvard/Belknap trade paperback, 1983, clean/tight, No marks/tears or defects...Fine (like new)...Bubble-wrapped and mailed in a Box w/delivery confirmation. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Belknap Press
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780674768000ISBN:0674768000
Description: Very Good. Paperback, Very Good, clean, tight, with name inscription on front free endpaper. with some rubbing along the cover/spine edges North American Orders are shipped by kbooks every business day. International orders are shipped on Tuesdays and Friday's. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr, Cumbreland, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780674768000ISBN:0674768000
Description: Very Good. 6 x 9 1/2. Softcover edition. Takes an historical look at time and timepieces and how man has conceived and perceived the phenomena of time. read more
"I just yesterday finished reading Revolution in Time by David S. Landes. It falls flat as a technical manual for clocks and watches, but the early chapters give a suitable overview of people's relation to time and timepieces. The authors unit of analysis gets progressively narrower as his subject approaches the present. The details he does give in later chapters don't give an analogous picture of people's relation to time and timepieces and their manufacture in the early 80s when the book was published...
The book mentions John Harrison, an early inventor of a clock accurate enough to be used aboard ship to computer longitude. Harrison was a man of humble beginnings and meager resources who taught himself horology and designed and build a number of innovative clocks. His earliest models were composed mostly of wood, which was unusual for the time but very were accurate . Perhaps I'll see if his bio is in print in the U.K. I'd love to read a biography of John Harrison but it appears none is currently in print in the U.S. There's a recent movie/book tie in but a more exhaustive biography of Harrison from 1920 is priced well out of my range. I mistakenly believed that Harrison Birtwistle's musical composition, titled "Harrison's Clocks." referred to the composer but now I think rather refers to John Harrison.
The other person this book has me thinking about, in reference to artisanship and craft, is William Morris. I've got 3 or 4 books by or about him that I may read in rapid succession once I am through with this book. I guess I am trying to get a picture of skilled labor and artisanship. These days, many folks who historically worked, for example, on jewelry or timepieces are finding their jobs deskilled and themselves outsourced or replaced by underwaged immigrant workers. The antagonisms in terms of immediate material interest and in terms of contradictions within the class should be obvious. These people still possess the skills and in many cases the tools of repair and manufacture. Many are working from a bench in their home after work hours. Hairdressers working out of their kitchen would be a similar example. This is bears resemblance to my own experience selling/repairing books. Libraries are shortening their hours and shrinking their collections and bookstores with selections more heterogeneous than Barnes & Noble are being forced out of business or onto the web. People with skills and knowledge relevant to books are forced to ply their craft in isolation. Buying up books at a discount, sprucing them up a bit and then selling them online can bring in a few extra bucks. There is something to be said for not having to answer to management and also seeing monetary returns on the use of skills and knowledge that an employer might discourage or fail to recognize. The downside is that the monetary return on an hour of this work is way below what someone would be paid if they were conventionally employed and that such folks are so atomized as workers that no traditional method of workplace organizing is appropriate.
Similarly it's recently become easier and more popular for folks to engage in "hardware hacking" and "circuit bending" of computers and other electronics. There is in fact a magazine published by O'Reilly dedicated almost exclusively to these "makers." It remains to be seen where artisanship like this will lead. It is easy to imagine, though that folks with enough money would patronize a custom computer or electronics boutique. Web based versions of such boutiques already exist.
So I am probably going to dust off old William Morris in the next month or so. In a direct methodological sense I don't think I will take much away from Morris' writing. I've read a bit of his stuff and he is kind of weak on imperialism and didn't strike me as the best organizer. But I think the books by/about him will give me some context, however quaint, to inform an understanding the human side of this kind of microcapitalist homework."
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