Author Description

Product Description The Story of Time and Clocks explores the development of systems of recording and measuring time from the earliest calendars to the latest in quartz watches. The reader learns about natural clocks (stars, sun, moon, and weather cycles), the advent of calendars around the world, the history ofclock making, how we measure time zones, and why we get jet lag. Organized chronologically from ancient history to the present, the volume is illustrated throughout with colorful photographs and drawings of artifacts and objects. Along with boxes which highlight inventions, personalities, andamazing facts, The Story of Time and Clocks supplies the reader with a timeline, a glossary and an index. The Signs of the Times series presents the history of basic systems of communication and calculation for children aged eight to ten. From School Library Journal Grade 3-6. Time considers life before clocks, the development of units of time, world time zones, and the history of time keeping (calendars, early timepieces such as sundials and waterclocks, mechanical clocks, and precision timing devices). Weights covers early ways of measuring, the development of standardized systems of weights and measures, and procedures for using precise modern devices to calibrate things as diverse as the temperature of lava erupting from a volcano to the distance between the Earth and the moon. Topics are presented in double-page spreads that include brief paragraphs of text and captioned, full-color photographs. "Signpost" boxes note practical applications (e.g., equations for converting between Fahrenheit and Celsius); "Breakthrough" boxes highlight key inventions; and "In Fact..." boxes offer related trivia. These two titles share the strengths and weaknesses of the series. They offer a great deal of information and the Eyewitness-like format is appealing and will attract browsers. However, the presentation is choppy and topics are given only superficial treatment.?Carolyn Angus, The Claremont Graduate School, CACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews This entry in the Signs of the Times series is not equal to Ganeri's The Story of Writing and Printing (1996). Here, visual clutter and intellectual imprecision mar the presentation of a subject that demands clarity. There are as many as four illustrations (mostly full-color photographs), one or two fact boxes, a red border of unidentified icons, and up to eight different typefaces per page. Two-page spreads cover subjects such as the need for timekeeping and ancient ways of marking seasons; information comes in short, self-contained paragraphs, with little continuity and with some odd juxtapositions, e.g., a paragraph on the Doomsday Clock (which does not measure time at all but perceived threat of nuclear catastrophe) follows one on atomic clocks, which may lead readers to falsely associate the two. The discussion of time zones is ambiguous: Westbound travelers do lose an hour in crossing each time zone, but in setting back watches or clocks, gain hours in the day. The definitions of a.d. and b.c. are buried in the glossary; the index, misspelling the name of the 17th-century astronomer Johannes Hevelius, is occasionally illogical, listing early Greek and Egyptian topics under A for ``ancient,'' and listing equally antique Babylonian and Roman practices under B and R, respectively. Better books include Brenda Walpole's Time (1995), of equivalent length and reading level, and Franklyn Branley's less colorful but more authoritative Keeping Time (1993). (chronology, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Review "Offer[s] a great deal of information and the Eyewitness-like format is appealing and will attract browsers."--School Library Journal"Clearly explains the history of time and measurement. The concepts are clearly explained in easy-to-understand language and are inters