The ordering of time. From the ancient computus to the modern computer.

Borst, Arno:

ISBN 10: 074561258X / ISBN 13: 9780745612584

Published by Cambridge, Polity Press, 1993

About this Item

IX, 168 Seiten Mit Schutzumschlag. Sehr gut erhalten. Mit kurzer Widmung des Autors mit Bleistift ("Mit herzlichem Dank A.B.) 074561258X Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 222.

Seller Inventory # 109303

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The ordering of time. From the ancient computus to the modern computer.
• Publisher: Cambridge, Polity Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 074561258X
• ISBN 13: 9780745612584
• Binding: gebundene Ausgabe
• Condition: Sehr gut
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Weight: 222 grams
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Kulturgeschichte

About this title

Synopsis

This book is a concise history of the use and interpretation of time, written by one of the foremost historians in Europe today. Arno Borst examines the various ways that time has been calculated by numbers and measured by instruments through the ages, from the "computus" an ancient method of determining times and dates to the presentday computer. In a wideranging discussion, he analyses the classical Greek concepts of divine, natural and human time; the universal time of ancient Rome; the Easter cycle of the Middle Ages; the development of the mechanical clock in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; early modern chronology; and twentiethcentury data processing. Borst argues that although many centuries and countless different instruments sundials, horologia, abaci, astrolabes, calendars, and calculating machines separate the "computus" from the modern computer, each generation throughout the ages has had to answer the same question: how can we make the best use of our available time to improve our lives The computer, he suggests, is merely a new instrument employed for an ancient purpose. Lively and accessible, The Ordering of Time will be welcomed by students and researchers in social and cultural history, the history of science and mathematics, as well as anyone interested in the history of time and numbers.

About the Author

Arno Borst is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Konstanz in Germany. Borst's previous books include Medieval Worlds (Polity, 1992).