Keeping Watch: A History of Time in America - Softcover

O'Malley Ph.D., Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140124330 ISBN 13: 9780140124330

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1991

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Michael O'Malley is assistant professor of history at George Mason University.

Reviews

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140124330
• ISBN 13: 9780140124330
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400