HANDS OF TIME: A Watchmaker's History of Time

A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week covering 40,000 years of our relationship with time condensed into 288 pages. It is a finely-tuned meditation by a watchmaker and historian who welcomes us into the hidden world of watchmaking, and to a history of time that spans centuries and continents. The invention of timepieces was more significant for human culture than the printing press or even the wheel. They have travelled the world with us, from the depths of the oceans to the summit of Everest, and even to the Moon. They regulate our daily lives and have sculpted the social and economic development of society in surprising and dramatic ways. From her workshop bench, Rebecca explores the ways in which timekeeping has indelibly shaped our attitudes to work, leisure, trade, politics, exploration and mortality. She introduces us to some of the extraordinary devices, each with their own story to tell, in this intricate exploration of the history, science, philosophy, and craft of timekeeping. 'Watches don't create time, they measure our cultural perception of time.' She takes us from the earliest lunar calendar (a notched baboon fibula found in the Lebombo mountains) to today's quartz watches together with the sights, smells and sounds of a watchmaker's workshop in Birmingham's jewellery quarter. 260pp in illustrated paperback with eight pages of colour photos.