Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year

Duncan, David Ewing

ISBN 10: 0380975289 / ISBN 13: 9780380975280

Published by Avon Books, 1998

About this Item

1st printing of 1st edition, as stated and with full number line. Binding is tight, sturdy, and square. Interior appears free of markings. Corners sharp. Unclipped dust jacket looks very nice. An all-around very good+ copy. From a private collection. Ships from Dinkytown in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Seller Inventory # 303188

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0380975289
• ISBN 13: 9780380975280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good+
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+ Dust Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • History General

About this title

Synopsis

From Stonehenge to Mayan observatories to the atomic clock in Washington, a timely, informative, and entertaining account of humans' varied attempts to count the days and years follows the historical forces that have produced our calendar.

Review

In this book, David Ewing Duncan traces the development of our modern-day calendar and describes how people's experiences are shaped by their conception of time. Duncan postulates that all this concern with time started when a Cro-Magnon man decided to mark off the days of the lunar cycle on an eagle bone. After recounting the slow evolution of the calendar through the centuries, the author laments how time oriented our society has become: "There are moments when I am hopelessly late, or cannot possibly fit anything else into my schedule, when I sigh and wish that Cro-Magnon man 13,000 years ago in the Dordogne Valley had set aside his eagle bone and gone to bed."

The book is organised in chronological order and focuses mainly on the centuries leading up to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar (our modern calendar) by the Catholic Church in 1582. Along the way, Duncan describes the ancient calendars of many cultures all over the globe, from India to Egypt to the Mayan empire. During the Middle Ages, Christian churches discouraged scientific inquiry on the theory that it was wrong to question the nature of God's creation. This severely hampered the refinement of the calendar and the advancement of many academic pursuits. By the 16th century, Europe's calendars were 11 days out of sync with the solar year, which meant Easter was being celebrated on the wrong day. An infusion of knowledge from India and the Middle East helped Europeans get back on track. Duncan profiles the many mathematicians, philosophers, and monks who made organising time their life's work. This book honours the efforts of those scholars and examines the way politics and religion influenced societal perceptions of time through the ages. --Jill Marquis, Amazon.com