From Publishers Weekly

Just in time for the new millennium comes this enormous, amply illustrated compilation of 23 essays on aspects of time from experts in various disciplines, among them history and historiography, music, geology, literary criticism, anthropology, religion and the history of engineering. The venerated art historian E.H. Gombrich contributes a compact "History of Anniversaries," from the so-called "jubilee" of the Hebrew Bible through a famous 1769 "Shakespeare Jubilee" and on to our present glut of commemorations. John MacDonald's intriguing "Inuit Time" explains how traditional cultures of the North American Arctic taught their children to wake up early in the morning, and how newly Christian tribal communities (who had to know which day was the Sabbath) grappled with the alien concept of weeks. Lorne Campbell describes some temporal problems of portraiture, as when a slow-working painter finds that her subject's appearance has changed over multiple sittings. Jonathan Betts outlines "The Growth of Modern Timekeeping: From Pendulums to Atoms." And Umberto Eco zips from St. Augustine to the modern philosophy of language to the Millennium Bug in a typically provocative foreword. Three hundred color pictures and photos, many with long explanatory blurbs, portray such time-related items as Renaissance sundials and klepsydras (water-clocks), the Hindu god Vishnu (creator and destroyer of world and time) and a bizarre French clock from 1795, which indicated not only 60-minute hours and 24-hour days, but also the short-lived revolutionary system of decimal time, whose 10 hours a day had 100 minutes each. The entire enjoyable and visually impressive volume is timed to coincide with an exhibit at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, where the year 2000 will officially begin. (Oct.)

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Prepared in conjunction with an international exhibition sponsored by the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum, this handsome and informative volume is filled with dozens of enticing perspectives on the subject of time--certainly an appropriate topic at a time of millennial madness. Essays by Eco, John MacDonald, Anthony Aveni, Ken Arnold, E.H. Gombrich, and others are organized into categories that focus on the creation, measurement, depiction, experience, and end of time. Within each section, there is much to learn about the impact of time on almost every aspect of existence--from calendars and timepieces, to major civilizations and their rituals, to art, music, science, and prophecy. In addition to many perspectives on our relationship to time, there is also a rich education in history, philosophy, and world culture here. The captions that accompany the many superb color photos and art reproductions are particularly informative. Essential for academic and humanities collections.

-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ

Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

克里斯滕•利平科特，格林威治皇家天文台台长，著有《天文学》等书。

翁贝托•艾柯，意大利小说家、哲学家、符号学家、美学家，博洛尼亚大学教授，著有《玫瑰的名字》《美的历史》等书。

贡布里希爵士，著名艺术史学者，著有《艺术的故事》等书。

其他作者有约翰•诺思教授（格罗宁根大学）、西尔克•阿克曼博士（大英博物馆）、安东尼•埃维尼教授（科尔盖特大学）、戴维•金教授（歌德大学科学史研究所）、迈克尔•洛伊教授（剑桥大学克莱尔学院）、乔伊•亨德利教授（牛津布鲁克斯大学）、约翰•麦克唐纳博士（努纳武特研究中心）、埃利•德克尔博士（乌特勒支大学）、乔纳森•贝茨（格林威治皇家天文台）、伊万•卡斯克尔博士（哈佛大学福格艺术博物馆）、洛恩•坎贝尔博士（英国国家美术馆）、约翰•豪斯教授（伦敦大学考陶尔德艺术学院）、马西娅•波因顿教授（曼彻斯特大学）、唐•埃兹教授（埃塞克斯大学）、伊恩•芬伦博士（剑桥大学国王学院）、肯•阿诺德博士（韦尔康医学史研究所）、菲利普•费尔南多-阿梅斯托教授（牛津大学）、马丁•鲁德威克教授（剑桥大学三一学院）、霍华德•莫菲教授（澳大利亚国立大学）、安东尼•斯帕林格博士（奥克兰大学）、马丁•里斯爵士（剑桥大学天文研究所）。