Encyclopedia of Time (Garland Reference Library of Social Science, 810) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0815306156 ISBN 13: 9780815306153

Publisher: Routledge, 1994

Synopsis

In this encyclopedia, some 200 international scholars in 360 articles explore subjects such as physics, archeostronomy, astronomy, mathematics, time's measurements and divisions, as well as covering other scientific and interdisciplinary areas: biology, economics and political science, horology, history, medicine, geography, geology and telecommunications.

About this title

About the Author

Samuel L. Macey Department of English, University of Victoria

Reviews

Time has many facets and dimensions, and all are explored by experts in the Encyclopedia of Time. Macey, author of several previous books about time, is a professor at the University of Victoria (Canada) and immediate past president of the International Society for the Study of Time. Gathered together here are articles by some 200 scholars, primarily U.S., Canadian, and British, but also from around the world, including Japan and Turkey. Their specialties range from philosophy, psychology, and astrophysics to geology, music, and medicine. This is the first encyclopedic volume to document the whole interdisciplinary field of time studies that has emerged in recent years. While time is readily apparent in some entries, such as those on clocks and calendars, it is implicit in all entries, as contributors stress aspects of their subject that are related to time.

Entries begin with Age of the Oldest Stars and the Milky Way and end with X-Ray Universe and vary in length from less than a page to more than nine pages. All are signed, have brief lists of further readings, and frequently have see also references to other entries. An amazing array of topics is found, from persons (Foucault, Emerson, Dickens, Petrarch, and F. W. Taylor) to medical (Cardiovascular Chronopharmacology), religious (Judeo-Christian Traditions on Time), literary (Clock Metaphor, Stream of Consciousness), astronomical (Anasazi Archaeoastronomy, Star and Galaxy Formation), sports (Racing Sports and the Stopwatch) to such entries as Time for the Family, Mathematics of Musical Time, and Tidal Rhythms in Marine Organisms. Because many topics are discussed in specific entries, a list of articles by major disciplines allows one to find related entries quickly. For example, Horology lists Clocks: America and Mass Production, 1770-1890; French Clocks and Watches, 1660-1830; and Precision Timekeeping, 1790-1830 among its 14 entries. Time's Measurements and Divisions includes Aztec Calendar; Calendar: Chinese and Japanese; and Standard Time: Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time among its eight entries. Neither the sundial nor flextime has its own entry, but an index provides quite detailed access and both of these topics are found there. Illustrations include formulas, tables, diagrams, drawings, and black-and-white photographs.

The Encyclopedia of Time is a fascinating volume for browsing that also supplies readable scholarly information concerning all facets of this topic. Not just science libraries, but all academic and large public libraries, even some high-school libraries, may find it a valuable addition to their collections.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0815306156
• ISBN 13: 9780815306153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 726
• Editor: Macey Samuel L.