Time in History: Views of Time from Prehistory to the Present Day

Synopsis We have never been as obsessed with time as we are now. The more accurately we are able to measure it, the more we worry about it; yet though we complain that it passes too quickly, we seldom question its fundamental characteristics. Is our idea of time, in fact, immutable? Is the way in which we measure it, by clock and calendar, absolute? Most of us are so accustomed to the ideas of time, history, and evolution that we are inclined to forget that these concepts have not always been accorded the importance which we now assign to them. If, however, we are to understand why it is that time tends to dominate our way of life and thought, we must examine the role that it has played throughout history.