Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook799 pages12 hours
Marking Time: The Epic Quest to Invent the Perfect Calendar
By Duncan Steel
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
"If you lie awake worrying about the overnight transition from December 31, 1 b.c., to January 1, a.d. 1 (there is no year zero), then you will enjoy Duncan Steel's Marking Time."--American Scientist
"No book could serve as a better guide to the cumulative invention that defines the imaginary threshold to the new millennium."--Booklist
A Fascinating March through History and the Evolution of the Modern-Day Calendar . . .
In this vivid, fast-moving narrative, you'll discover the surprising story of how our modern calendar came about and how it has changed dramatically through the years. Acclaimed author Duncan Steel explores each major step in creating the current calendar along with the many different systems for defining the number of days in a week, the length of a month, and the number of days in a year. From the definition of the lunar month by Meton of Athens in 432 b.c. to the roles played by Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, and Isaac Newton to present-day proposals to reform our calendar, this entertaining read also presents "timely" tidbits that will take you across the full span of recorded history. Find out how and why comets have been used as clocks, why there is no year zero between 1 b.c. and a.d. 1, and why for centuries Britain and its colonies rang in the New Year on March 25th. Marking Time will leave you with a sense of awe at the haphazard nature of our calendar's development. Once you've read this eye-opening book, you'll never look at the calendar the same way again.
"No book could serve as a better guide to the cumulative invention that defines the imaginary threshold to the new millennium."--Booklist
A Fascinating March through History and the Evolution of the Modern-Day Calendar . . .
In this vivid, fast-moving narrative, you'll discover the surprising story of how our modern calendar came about and how it has changed dramatically through the years. Acclaimed author Duncan Steel explores each major step in creating the current calendar along with the many different systems for defining the number of days in a week, the length of a month, and the number of days in a year. From the definition of the lunar month by Meton of Athens in 432 b.c. to the roles played by Julius Caesar, William the Conqueror, and Isaac Newton to present-day proposals to reform our calendar, this entertaining read also presents "timely" tidbits that will take you across the full span of recorded history. Find out how and why comets have been used as clocks, why there is no year zero between 1 b.c. and a.d. 1, and why for centuries Britain and its colonies rang in the New Year on March 25th. Marking Time will leave you with a sense of awe at the haphazard nature of our calendar's development. Once you've read this eye-opening book, you'll never look at the calendar the same way again.
Unavailable
Related to Marking Time
Related ebooks
Marking Time: The Epic Quest to Invent the Perfect Calendar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Akhenaten to the Founding Fathers: The Mysteries of the Hooked X Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scientists and Swindlers: Consulting on Coal and Oil in America, 1820–1890 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Fleeting World: A Very Small Book of Big History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History (Text only) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How the Church Has Changed the World, Vol. II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Apple of His Eye: Converts from Islam in the Reign of Louis IX Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Monk to Modernity, Second Edition: The Challenge of Modern Thinking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAtlantis the Eyewitnesses, Part I Creation of Atlantis Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Climate Lies Exposed: The True Causes of Climate Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Contemporary Review, January 1883 Vol 43, No. 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Take on the Past: What’s Past Is Prologue: Shakespeare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNewport Firsts: A Hundred Claims to Fame (RI) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gifts of Athena: Historical Origins of the Knowledge Economy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Medieval Village Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fifty Notable Years: Views of the Ministry of Christian Universalism During the Last Half-Century; with Biographical Sketches Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFifty Things You Need to Know About World History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913: Containing the Reminiscences of Harris Newmark Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Headlines That Changed the World Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Earth's Deep History: How It Was Discovered and Why It Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5New York Firefighting and the American Revolution: Saving Colonial Gotham from Incineration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBridging the Gap: The 7Th Day Who Was Early Man Vol. 2 Age of Phenomenal Accomplishments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Abyss of Time: Unraveling the Mystery of the Earth's Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science & Mathematics For You
Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Systems Thinker: Essential Thinking Skills For Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No-Drama Discipline: the bestselling parenting guide to nurturing your child's developing mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Activate Your Brain: How Understanding Your Brain Can Improve Your Work - and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory with the Most Powerful Methods in History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Free Will Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/52084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gulag Archipelago: The Authorized Abridgement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Science of Monsters: The Origins of the Creatures We Love to Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oppenheimer: The Tragic Intellect Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Marking Time
Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
5 ratings0 reviews