The Clock We Live On

by Isaac Asimov

Story of Earth as a timepiece.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

172 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Kristian Kallesten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went down to the library for the first time in high school. I didn't have a clue on what to read other than that I wanted a non-fiction book. I had always found clocks interesting so when I saw this book I thought I'd give it a try. I loved it. The Clock We Live On by Isaac Asimov was fantastic. Every page was interesting to me. I can't compare it to anything else. It talked about how we measured time during early mankind. Also discussing modern time telling devices, daylight savings time and much more. I think for someone to enjoy this book they'd have to be really interested in the past and also be looking to learn a lot of new facts. This book didn't have much of a plot. It stayed centered around time, that was the plot. The vocabulary was quite easy other than a few words here and there but you still understand what is being described to you, especially at this age. Having never heard of this book, I went in not knowing what to expect,and to me this is the best way to go into a book because it leaves a better chance to be surprised. That is how I came out of reading this book, surprised. I enjoyed this book immensely and I will be searching for many books just like it in coming years.

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac Asimov provides a great introduction to the history of timekeeping in this book. Asimov covers calendars, how long a year is in each reckoning, methods used to measure a day, and why the week throws everything off. Not bad for a book written in 1959.

The book doesn’t cover the theoretical physics of time. The illustrations are well done and show enough to be useful.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything we ever wanted to know about Earth and Time and seasons. Very nice. 9/10

[Connor Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good but basic overview of the history of how time is measured.

[Sergey Selyutin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about measuring time and its units.

[Corbin Routier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that should be given to kids in school. It presents the real world applications of astronomy and technology.

[Dick Stapleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Asimov font of not-the-most-useful-but-fun-to-know information. Ok, I'm a tad nerdy. But now I know why our measurement system in based on 12s (12 hour cycles to day and night, 12 inches to the foot, etc.). Blame the Babylonians (now Iraq - once a pain, always a pain) who were great mathematicians and astronomers but, like so many of us, had problems with fractions. The decimal system makes great sense now but 10 is divisible only by 2 and 5. 12 can be evenly divided by 2,3,4, and 6. And now ya know.

[Frank Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought and read this book out of curiosity, and with the thought that it might make a good gift for one of my grandchildren. That may be where it is now. If so, I hope they got around to reading it, since it's an excellent introduction to the history of time measurement. I thought of it again when I ran across what might be considered an "update" to the topic.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-...

[Tris · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a card-carrying science factoid nerdball, this book might be a little simplistic for you. If, like me, you still aren't certain that microwave ovens aren't the work of the devil, it offers a nice little primer on why and how we humans have come to tell time the way we do. It will also make you look at shadows differently and appreciate the divisibility of the number 12.

[Robu-sensei · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and informative history of how we measure time. In typically clear and insightful prose, Dr. Asimov recounts the origins of our 24-hour day and Gregorian calendar, and shows how both are firmly rooted in the motions of the Earth in the heavens.

[Ovidiu Neatu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great refresher! Plus some things I never knew. Wish I had read this when I was younger.

[Eder Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Después de leerlo, las bolitas brillantes del cielo se ven de otra manera.