The Dynamics of Progress: Time, Method, and Measure - Hardcover

Macey, Samuel L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820311596 ISBN 13: 9780820311593

Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr, 1990

Synopsis

In Chaucer's day, an hour varied between 40 and 80 minutes, depending on the latitude and time of year. Since then our time measurements have become much more exact; today the second is defined by the vibration of caesium 133 atoms. Similarly, our irrational measures of length, area, weight and volume were often related to the diverse sizes of man and varied widely in different jurisdictions until the metric systems was devised. The development of increasingly precise measurements are an essential part of what Samuel Macey identifies as the West's wide-ranging effort to "rationalize" human activity - to simplify and standardize the way we work and communicate with one another. In "The Dynamics of Progress", Macey examines the history of such rationalizations as they have manifested themselves not only in temporal and spatial measurement but also in the development of language, numerical systems and the processes of production, distribution and finance. He identifies a symbiotic relationship among these different types of rationalization, aiming to demonstrate that without the rationalizing of time, weights and measures, numbers and language, the scientific, technological and industrial advances of the past three hundred years would have been inconceivable. In addition to discussing rationalization in its various forms, Macey also addresses reactions against it.

About this title

About the Author

Samuel L. Macey is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Victoria, where he was also the Dean of Graduate Studies. He is founder of the English Literary Studies Monograph Series and a former president of the International Society for the Study of Time. Among his books are Clocks and the Cosmos: Time in Western Life and Thought, Patriarchs of Time: Dualism in Saturn-Cronus, Father Time, the Watchmaker God, and Father Christmas (Georgia), Time: A Bibliographic Guide, and Encyclopedia of Time.

From Library Journal

The author shows how the development of modern civilization has been closely intertwined with what he calls the "rationalization" of time measurement and use. Macey has written two previous books on time and time measurement, and this is clearly his forte. He concentrates mainly on the last several centuries of Western civilization, although he does touch upon other eras and cultures. He raises some debatable assertions; for example, not everyone would agree that the current dominance of the English language in international science and commerce is also an example of "rationalization." In the later sections of the book, where Macey reviews efforts to systematize industrial processes, his line of argument becomes diffuse and erratic. Although the work is not wholly satisfactory, it contains much of interest, particularly in the earlier sections.
- Jack W. Weigel, Univ. of Michigan Lib., Ann Arbor
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0820311596
• ISBN 13: 9780820311593
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 273