History of Time : A Very Short Introduction

By:

Holford-Strevens, Leofranc

Series: Very Short IntroductionsPublication details: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005Description: 144ISBN:

9780192804990

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

529.3 HOL

Summary: Why do we measure time in the way that we do? Why is a week seven days long? At what point did minutes and seconds come into being? Why are some calendars lunar and some solar? The organisation of time into hours, days, months and years seems immutable and universal, but is actually far more artificial than most people realise. The French Revolution resulted in a restructuring of the French calendar, and the Soviet Union experimented with five and then six-day weeks. Leofranc Holford-Strevens explores these questions using a range of fascinating examples from Ancient Rome and Julius Caesar's imposition of the Leap Year, to the 1920s' project for a fixed Easter.

List(s) this item appears in: New Arrivals September 2025-Liberal Arts and Humanities

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Book	Alliance School of Liberal Arts and Humanities	529.3 HOL (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		LA06029

Total holds: 0

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Why do we measure time in the way that we do? Why is a week seven days long? At what point did minutes and seconds come into being? Why are some calendars lunar and some solar?

The organisation of time into hours, days, months and years seems immutable and universal, but is actually far more artificial than most people realise. The French Revolution resulted in a restructuring of the French calendar, and the Soviet Union experimented with five and then six-day weeks. Leofranc Holford-Strevens explores these questions using a range of fascinating examples from Ancient Rome and Julius Caesar's imposition of the Leap Year, to the 1920s' project for a fixed Easter.

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