Book Description

In Time and the Technosphere, Jose Arguelles presents a groundbreaking study that distinguishes the natural time of the cosmos from the artificial mechanistic time under which we currently live. Arguelles defines the actual nature of time as the frequency of synchronization.Applying this Law of Time to an understanding of the entire system of life on Earth, he shows that in order to not destroy Earth's ability to sustain life, we must change our definition of time and adopt a natural harmonic calendar based on the 13-moon 28-day cycle. Until the creation of the Gregorian calendar and the 60-minute hour, most of humanity lived by the 28-day cycle of natural time. The adoption of artificial time has subjected us to a 12:60 time frequency that governs the entire global industrialized civilization-the technosphere. With the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 11, a fissure was created in this artificial technosphere, opening up the noosphere (Earth's mental envelope).

Humanity has a golden opportunity to leave the strife of the past and enter a time of peace by adopting a harmonious natural calendar that will repair the damages caused by the irregular tempo of technospheric time. Our last best chance to adopt this natural time and step into the bright new future promised by the galactic shift of 2012 is the Great Calendar Change of 2004, a new discovery based on the author's mathematical research into the Mayan calendar first begun in his landmark work The Mayan Factor. In Time and the Technosphere, Arguelles reveals the clear distinction between third-dimensional astronomical time and the fourth-dimensional synchronic order of the Law of Time, which holds enormous potential for the future of humanity. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Yuppy Metaphysics for the Fashionably Enlightened
If time is of the essence-then Jose Arguelles has cornered the market on chronological intrigue with his most recent offering published by Bear and Company. The ultimate darling of the New Age movement and world famous co-ordinator of the so called Harmonic Convergence day which came and went back in the summer of 1987, Arguelles offers us a sobering perhaps inspiring look at the various calendrical systems imposed upon us such as the Gregorian, Julian, etc. In Time and the Technosphere:The Law of Time in Human Affairs. He advocates a calendar that accomodates the 13th moon-which has been globally occluded, deliberately speaking, by such vectors as the Holy Roman Empire and others of like minded oppression. Yet in spite of his good intentions at liberating us from the matrix of linearity, there is a kind of messianic condescension that sets the tone of this book throughout. Calling 9-11 the 'inevitable event' Arguelles distances himself with a kind of chronological nomenclature that only the privileged few can ever appreciate, let alone understand. Here's an example of his tone:

' I am the stranger from the other side of the wall of mechanized time, I have come back to make you familiar with the time your clock and calendar shield you from.....'

I suppose I should be very grateful for such a timely second coming on Arguelles part but it is hard to swallow his obvious elitism. Time and the Technosphere is a book to be talked about over a nice Chablis and Neufchatel cheese not over beer and Pizza.

Visionary of the New Time
The Mayan calendar has become increasingly popular outside of Mesoamerica over the past twenty years. One of the driving forces behind the movement is Dr. José Argüelles and his many books including The Mayan Factor, Dreamspell, and Earth Ascending.

Jose and his wife, Lloydine, regularly travel the world, spreading their vision of a new approach to how we consider and exist alongside Time. They believe that as a society, we can solve our collective problems by changing to a new calendar based on the natural time of the cosmos. Argüelles works full time on behalf of the World Thirteen Moon Calendar Change Peace Movement and is president of the Foundation for the Law of Time.

In the long awaited sequel to the author's bestselling book The Mayan Factor, Argüelles explains the Great Calendar Change of 2004 and its enormous potential for the future of humanity. Time and the Technosphere presents a unique study that distinguishes the concept of 'Natural Time' from the artificial mechanistic time known as the 'Technosphere', under which we currently live.

The premise for the study is simple: the time structure that governs human civilisation is not the same as the time structure governing the rest of the biosphere. The term biosphere refers to what is commonly and inadequately called 'the environment.' As such the biosphere is a whole system, 'composite of the sum of life and its organic and inorganic support systems spread out over the surface of the Earth, hence bio = 'life' and sphere = 'having the form of a globe.' (Arguelles, p. 2)

This form of 'Artificial Time' establishes a frequency that governs humanity apart from the rest of life. Argüelles defines the actual nature of time as the frequency of synchronisation of all things, and by applying this concept or 'Law' of Time to the entire system of life on Earth, he illustrates a way humanity can assist Earth's ability to sustain life.

Until the creation of the Gregorian calendar and the 60-minute hour, most of humanity lived by the 28-day cycle of natural time. The adoption of artificial time has subjected us to a 12:60 time frequency that governs the entire global industrialised civilisation, which Arguelles defines as the Technosphere.

Our perception of time is intrinsically linked to our perception of everything around us. Time is also very central to our experience of mind, and the primary effect on our perception of time is the calendar. Theoretically, the Gregorian calendar is imposed over natural cycles, which minimises our ability to see natural cycles. It is designed for material functionality, following the seasons and the working week, but it implicitly keeps us from seeing the full cyclical nature of time.

By using a calendar based on materialism, we are locked into a material way of seeing time and hence a material level of consciousness. We cannot escape this pattern until we switch to a calendar that's designed to promote sustainability and a revised and natural experience of mind. By changing our definition of time and adopting a natural harmonic calendar based on the 13-moon 28-day cycle, humanity's existence operates in tandem with the Universe rather than in opposition.

To be realised and then applied, the science of time is dependent on two factors: a sudden and radical disruption of the historical continuum, and a genuine globalisation or planetisation of consciousness. According to Argüelles, the break in historical continuum is necessary to jolt the human consciousness from its stagnant and entropic state, while the globalised consciousness is necessary for the application of this law at a planetary whole systems level.

Argüelles suggests that the radical jolt to the human consciousness occurred on September 11 with the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York. As the signal of the end of artificial time, this act created doubt in the mind of modern humanity in regard to the artificial technosphere. It provided an opportunity to consider the nature of life and consciousness in a different perspective. This was an opening of humanity's mental envelope or 'noosphere'. The remainder of Argüelles' work elaborates on this matter, and the possible, and somewhat inevitable, circumstances it will initiate.

Humanity now has an opportunity to leave the errors of the past and enter a time of peace by adopting a harmonious natural calendar that will repair the damages caused by the irregular tempo of technospheric time.

Through careful research, Argüelles claims to have discovered that the best (and last) chance to adopt this natural time structure is the Great Calendar Change of 2004. This theory is based on the author's mathematical research into the Mayan calendar first begun in his work The Mayan Factor.

In Time and the Technosphere, Argüelles reveals the clear distinction between third-dimensional astronomical time and the fourth-dimensional synchronic order of the Law of Time, which he believes, holds enormous potential for the future of humanity.

Argüelles is interesting reading for those who are prepared to think outside the square of established pattern. Argüelles' research may not find converts everywhere, but it certainly presents extremely relevant and thought provoking concepts. Time and Technosphere is a good start for those who want to understand the paradigm shift that may be already underway.

The Art of Timing
If you've always loved calendars as works of art in themselves, Time and the Technosphere by Jose Arguelles will upgrade your view of them as such. If you've always viewed calendars and timing as merely formalities Arguelles' book succeeds most admirably in upgrading your view of what's really going on when you locate yourself within a time grid. He's most convincing when
showing that we are how we time ourselves. The sins of the Gregorian Calendar are well known and Arguelles suggests a new timing device that's so sensible its like comparing inches to meters. Dividing a year into 13 months of 28 days with one day off to grow on, seems reasonable. Where to begin the New Year will probably always be controversial. The point of the Spring Equinox seems the most logical but Arguelles proposes an ancient point, July 26 when the Sun is conjunct the constellation Sirius,
giving this calendar a distinctly New World/Mayan/Native American flavor that's appealing. The Old World has held the clock over us too long. The other connections to the Mayans base 20 counting system are harder to fathom but most intriguing. What's most disappointing is that this calendar is solar based and does not literally link up with the ebb and flow of the real lunar calendar. You need We'Moon (at another location at Amazon) for that. So you're still stuck with at least two different calendar systems. If you love calendars like me, maybe that's no problem. Arguelles book is a door opening to a new way of thinking about our world, sometimes difficult and challenging...

READ THIS BOOK!
This is probably the most important book that has ever been written... Why? Because it explains how an error in time (the way we think about time) has caused us to create a technosphere that is completely out of tune with the rest of the biosphere. This is a seriously great book -- you should read it now! ... Read more

Book Description

Bored during Mass at the cathedral in Pisa, the seventeen-year-old Galileo regarded the chandelier swinging overhead--and remarked, to his great surprise, that the lamp took as many beats to complete an arc when hardly moving as when it was swinging widely. Galileo's Pendulum tells the story of what this observation meant, and of its profound consequences for science and technology.

The principle of the pendulum's swing--a property called isochronism--marks a simple yet fundamental system in nature, one that ties the rhythm of time to the very existence of matter in the universe. Roger Newton sets the stage for Galileo's discovery with a look at biorhythms in living organisms and at early calendars and clocks--contrivances of nature and culture that, however adequate in their time, did not meet the precise requirements of seventeenth-century science and navigation. Galileo's Pendulum recounts the history of the newly evolving time pieces--from marine chronometers to atomic clocks--based on the pendulum as well as other mechanisms employing the same physical principles, and explains the Newtonian science underlying their function. The book ranges nimbly from the sciences of sound and light to the astonishing intersection of the pendulum's oscillations and quantum theory, resulting in new insight into the make-up of the material universe. Covering topics from the invention of time zones to Isaac Newton's equations of motion, from Pythagoras' theory of musical harmony to Michael Faraday's field theory and the development of quantum electrodynamics, Galileo's Pendulum is an authoritative and engaging tour through time of the most basic all-pervading system in the world.

Amazon.com

Raven Hail, an elder of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, divulges the secret Cherokee system of astrology in The Cherokee Sacred Calendar. With an easy-to-use chart and graph, readers are able to decipher which of 20 "day" signs he or she may be (Flint, Eagle, Deer, Redbird, etc.), which, like more familiar forms of astrology, describe the characteristics of an individual's personality. Also, each day has one of 13 numbers associated with it to further describe the individual. In explaining the Sacred Venus Calendar of Natal Days, the author offers insightful and amusing information concerning the whole pantheon of Cherokee cosmology. Wondrous beliefs abound, such as that every sentient being--whether rock, turtle, or tree--is the reflection of a star and that The People came from the Pleiades. The beauty and wisdom contained in this fascinating resource of indigenous tradition are undeniable. --P. Randall Cohan ... Read more

Reviews (8)

many questions raised
The Cherokee Sacred Calendar is a piece of writing that begs for explanations. Why is the Cherokee astrological system essentially the same as that of the Maya and Aztecs and why hasn't this come out before? (We are also informed of the news that the Cherokee counted in a vegisimal system of dots and bars exactly like that of the Maya). Why do only some of the personality descriptions seem to be cleverly lifted (a short string of words at a time) from those in the book "Day-Signs: Native American Astrology From Ancient Mexico" but not others? Why are the tables the same as those in that unmentioned and uncited book? These are questions that both the author and the publisher need to answer.

A different light...
I found the book to be interesting and full of little insights in the cosmology of the Cherokee mind. Raven offers an easy to follow approach to looking at the stars in a different light. A good recommend for those with Cherokee blood or someone interested in Western or even Chinese astrology.

Please
As an official of the Cherokee Nation, let me advise the readers that the "teachings" of "Raven Hail" are not endorsed by the Nation, nor in fact, do they follow any Cherokee historical or cultural beliefs that I have ever heard.

Very Imaginative
A New Age version of the Mayan calendar given new Cherokee-esque names. What is reprehensible about this book is that Raven Hail is in fact a Cherokee tribal member.

Cut and paste book
I don't like or recommend this book for the following reasons.

1. Why is the Mayan 20 count included in a book about the Cherokee?

2. Raven Hail goes into an astrological system that seems to imply that one's future is set in stone. It is NOT. I am living proof that one can be anything thet want to be; providing they have the will and desire to change their life.

The book has a few Cherokee legends.

Please E-Mail me if you have questions or comments about my reviews. Two Bears

Wah doh Ogedoda (We give thanks Great Spirit) ... Read more

Book Description

"Here's a gem of a book...all peppered with delightful notes from science fiction films, novels, and comics. I can't turn a page without finding a jewel." Clifford Stoll, University of California, Berkeley, author of The Cuckoo's Egg "The research that has gone into this book is impressive." Nature "For professional physicists much of the value lies in the extensive technical appendices and footnotes, and the exhaustive list of references. But if, like me, you are a child at heart, the real fun lies in the zany stories and wild speculations." Physics World Time Machines explores the idea of time travel from the first account in English literature to the latest theories of physicists such as Kip Thorne and Igor Novikov. This very readable work covers a variety of topics including the history of time travel in fiction; the fundamental scientific concepts of time, spacetime, and the fourth dimension; the speculations of Einstein, Richard Feynman, Kurt Goedel, and others; time travel paradoxes, and much more.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

SFRA REVIEW "Dr. Nahin has done a fine job with this book. [This book] is an excellent synthesis of the current state of the philosophical and physical discussion on time travel. His use of science fiction to illustrate the possibilities of this research make his work very readable for the layperson as well as the scientist. His explanation why H.G. Wells's time machine wouldn't work (it does not move in space) is particularly engaging...[it] is an excellent addition to the discussion of time travel."

NATURE "The research that has gone into this book is impressive. The author has a made a good selection of ideas from the scientific literature on spacetime, causality violation and time-travel paradoxes, and they are presented at a popular level with science-fiction plots running in parallel." ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Paul Nahin has written an excellent book for the layperson.
People have long been fascinated with the idea of time travel. The possibilities are exciting -- you could go back in time and experience firsthand all the wonders of history. You could actually get a second chance to correct mistakes in your own life. To some these possibilities are frightening -- if you really can change the past, what does this do to our sense of continuity? To history? What if you went back and killed your own father before he even met your mother?

Paul J. Nahin discusses both sides of this issue in his thought provoking book Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction. He begins with an overview of time travel, from scientific possibility of it, to popular conjecture about it. He goes on to discuss the nature of time itself, and then ends with an in-depth analysis of paradoxes created by the possibility of time travel. He assures us that we do not have to worry about changing history, because the past cannot be changed.

Nahin has written an excellent book for the layperson. He includes many references to popular works of science fiction, including many stories and movies the reader is probably familiar with. This helps illustrate many of his points. The text is clear and well written. Anyone without a background in physics can understand this book. For those with a more technical bent Nahin includes a few "Tech Notes" at the end of the book to explain certain phenomena he discusses. Time Machines is an exciting book for anyone who has ever sat outside on a long summer night and wondered "what if."

time for a trip to the passsed
I am no scientist, that's for certain.

This book is a wonderful blend of science and science fiction. It is perfect for people like me, who are fascinated by the idea of time travel but can't understand math or physics for anything. The first few chapters are basically a literature review. An extremely comprehensive literature review. It'll be enough to make you run to your library or bookstore (or computer) in search of these books and short stories.

Nahin also discusses the reality behind time travel with relatively little math. Most of the math is tucked away in the "Tech Notes in the back of the book. Nice technique to sucker in the math-scaredys like me.

What I really loved about the book, though is Nahin's enthusiasm. He is obviously just as nuts (or more) as I am about this outlandish subject of time travel, which makes the book, in my opinion, stand-out.

Too much compilation, too little synthesis
Mr. Nahin obviously is very interested in the topic of time travel. He has read tons of sci-fi stories, has spoken with many physicists and/or read their books.
But he is a journalist, not a physicist. And he makes little or even no effort to synthesise.
As a result the book reads mostly like a list of everything that has been written by sci-fi writers, scientists and philosophers about the subject. But not like a book by someone who truly understands what is going on - provided it is possible to understand.
In my view this is a good book because of all the material in it, all the references. But it is not a good book per se. I gave it 3 out of 5, including 1 point for all the references.

interesting, though often tendentious
Nahin has a lot of interesting things to say with regard to time travel, but he has a tendency to set up as straw men viewpoints not in agreement with his and let viewpoints that do agree with his slide by when, perhaps, they warrant deeper critical examination. Special derision is reserved for various philosophers and their "fairy tales" and such. The chief respect in which I really enjoyed this book was in the many and varied discussions Nahin engages in with regard to time travel in literature. What he has to say is almost always lucid, interesting and fair, and the examples he rescues from obscurity are invariably intriguing. It's unfortunate that he didn't show such equanimity, again, with regard to opposing philosophically-oriented viewpoints. I have mixed feelings about the book because the recurring tendentiousness can wear on one, but I think the discussion of time travel in literature makes it worth the while.

A very good discussion of time travel, one error of omission
As I have always been fascinated by the idea of time travel, I very much enjoyed its discussion both in 'strictly scientific' terms and from a philosophical, literary, and, essential, pop-culture perspective.
Sadly, Nahin completely ignores one aspect that features prominently in many modern time travel narratives: the idea of alternate universes / alternate realities and, tied to that, the narrative perspective of sequentiality, which follows the POV of the protagonist of a narrative and projects his continuity against the alterations his actions cause. As a result, a number of time travel stories are missing, while others show flaws/inconsistencies in their interpretations. For instance, Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (1955), which deals with the idea of realities literally being 'engineered' through minimum manipulations in the course of history, thus weeding out 'mishaps' like world wars and famines but at the same time stalling natural progress, remains completely unmentioned. On the other hand, Nahin points to the 'flaw' in the end of Back to the Future I that the shopping mall should always have been "Lone Pine Mall" and never "Twin Pines Mall" as it was called in the beginning because taken from a timeline perspective, Marty had already been to 1955 and run over one of the twin pines with the DeLorean when the temporal experiment #1 took place in the parking lot in 1985. However, taken from this perspective, Marty's family should have been healthy and wealthy from the beginning on as well, which would undermine the whole plot idea of changing history (which is, added to that, even expressedly discussed in detail in the also unmentioned Back to the Future II).
Nevertheless, Nahin gives a lot of food for thought on the idea of time travel, and the rather extensive bibliography supplies a very good reference for further individual exploration. ... Read more

Book Description

The adventure spans the world from Stonehenge to astronomically aligned pyramids at Giza, from Mayan observatories at Chichen Itza to the atomic clock in Washington, the world's official timekeeper since the 1960s. We visit cultures from Vedic India and Cleopatra's Egypt to Byzantium and the Elizabethan court; and meet an impressive cast of historic personages from Julius Caesar to Omar Khayyam, and giants of science from Galileo and Copernicus to Stephen Hawking. Our present calendar system predates the invention of the telescope, the mechanical clock, and the concept ol zero and its development is one of the great untold stories of science and history.

How did Pope Gregory set right a calendar which was in error by at least ten lull days? What did time mean to a farmer on the Rhine in 800 A.D.? What was daily life like in the Middle Ages, when the general population reckoned births and marriages by seasons, wars, kings'' reigns, and saints' days? In short, how did the world

Reviews (36)

Enjoyable book on a fascinating subject
I agree with all of the criticisms by previous reviewers -- there are some easily caught errors (which speaks to poor editing as much as anything) and some goofy narrative speculation (not only the reindeer-clad moon-watching Cro-Magnon but also the weary Roman foot soldier). I started the book several times and, confronting these weaknesses, put it down again. But I always wound up going back because the subject is so interesting, and did eventually finish the book.

Having acknowledged the faults, though, I must say that I learned a lot reading this book, which is filled with interesting anecdotes as well as respectful nods to the many people who contributed to the development of our present-day calendar. The author does a good job of balancing specific information with the big picture, and one learns quite a bit about the history of Europe and the Catholic Church (and other areas and institutions to a lesser extent).

There is a good index.

Light headed history
This is a so-so account of man's attempt to map time. On the plus side, Calendar gives you a good and broad account of the main developments throughout the last 2500 years. It's a bit cheesy in places and really only deals with events surronding the development of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. But it's not bad as a first attempt at the story. 'Marking Time: The Epic Quest to Invent the Perfect Calendar' by astronomer Duncan Steel is much better though.

On the negative side, it's far too long and lacks credibility when dealing with numbers, astronomy and almost anything technical. Imagine a book written by an author who can't work out that if Jesus of Nazarath was born in 4BC, and there is no year zero dividing the BC and AD eras, then the year 2000 is actually 2004 and the new millenium began on 1st January 1997. If he's claiming that 1997 was really 2000, then he's also wrong. That honour went to 1996.

Just run an excel spreadsheet. Begin column 1 with -4 and then column 2 with 1 (omitting the zero between-1 and +1 in column 1). Run them side-by-side up to 2004. You'll get the answer in a flash. Why couldn't DED or his editor(s) have done this? It's very easy. In any case, there is still considerable doubt about the actual date of Christ's birth - with estimates ranging from 7BC to 3BC.

Also, its explanation of the Easter Computus just doesn't work. Nor does it explain why the calculation doesn't use the actual full moon, but uses ecclesiastical time instead - since this means that Passover and Easter (almost) never coincide. It's account of the failings of the Atomic Clock are sheer nonsense. And there is nothing to show the reader why the Gregorian calendar was designed to reflect the time between successive vernal equinoxes.

There are some bits I did like about Calendar. There easy bits on the development of the Julian calendar, placement mathematics in Arabia and India and then the decimal system involving the first use of the concept of zero. These chapters are quite good since it was mathematical developments that proved pivotal in increasing the accuracy of calendars.

This was also the first time I read about the confusion that reigned after the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the mid-16th century. Only Catholic countries obeyed the Pope's orders. Protestant states eventually joined in (mostly for economic reasons), but at different times over the next 250 years. The result was total confusion in Europe and it's colonial territories. I also now understand why the United Kingdom's tax year begins on seemingly bizarre date of 6th April - a throw back to the Julian calendar, the old New Year and the usual religious jiggery-pokery.

Overall, not bad. ...

Of dates, times, people and places...
There are a number of things I wish someone told me before I picked up this book, and here are some of them. This is NOT a book about the mathematics or the science behind the creation of the Calendar and the process of measuring time. Rather it is a long winded and one sided rambling history of the creation of the Gregorian Calendar in its present form. The book is too heavily European centric and Christian centric. It relegates all other histories of the measurement of time, such as the Mayans, the Indians, the Chinese, the Arabic etc to at most a chapter each. Further, the entire book is about the impact of the Church on the creation of the Calendar due to the need to fix Easter, and gives amiss to factors such as sea navigation, intercultural trade links etc, which were just as critical in the search for a universal time. Instead these are treated as anecdotes to illustrate the problems of a non-universal time, more as effects of changes made by the Church, rather than socio-cultural causes that led to the need for a Calendar.

In addition to all the above, the writing style makes the book a true chore to read. Filled with names, dates, names of towns and references to texts, paragraphs become extremely overloaded with junk information for anyone except the scholar interested in making chronological research notes. The other aspect that makes plain reading difficult is the frequently occurring capitals and years within paranthesis. A sample paragraph, picked almost at random is below.

"The bull itself was written in the fall of 1581, mostly by Pedro Chacon. On 20th October 1581 , he sent a draft from Turino to Cardinal Sirleto in Rome. Chacon then died a few days later, leaving the final version of the bull to be written by member Vincenzo di Lauri. Sirleto also dispatched Antionio Lilius, Aloysius's brother, to work with the pope's aides on the final bull at Mondragone, Gregory's favorite villa outside of Rome "

The good part of the book is that for someone unexposed to the frailties of time-measurement, this is definitely an eye opener in showing how recent the phenomenon of a universal time is. But even in the book being a non-scientific exposition, it falls far short of its own blurb which proudly announces the decision by Mao Zedong to accept the Gregorian Calendar as a seminal event, one which is treated in its entirety in a couple of paragraphs as compared to the entire book about the habits of monks and the "Ecclesiastical history of the English".Worth a read, not a buy though.

I liked it
I read this not long after it was first published, so I can only speak to my general recollections. If you're looking for a Michael Crichton or Stephen King page-turner, then click on... And, after reading some of the negative reviews here, I also remember that some of the computations in this book don't quite check out. I also remember that some "tangents" to the basic story seemed to be unduly drawn out, in an apparent effort to make a book of "respectable length" (about 250 pages, in my hardbound edition). On the other hand, I think most academically inclined people would enjoy this book.

In a world where time can be measured to an accuracy of "one second in 1,400,000 years" (tycho.usno.navy.mil/cesium.html), and the rotation of the earth is no longer used as the basis for its measurement (it's not sufficiently constant), and anyone with an Internet connection can easily synchronize his PC to within .2 seconds of the correct time, it is very easy to take this whole subject very much for granted. However, if asked how long it takes the earth to make one orbit of the sun, most people would answer "one year"... and they would be wrong; it takes about 1 year and 20 minutes for the earth to orbit the sun.

There are answers to many questions (that most people probably never ask themselves) in this book. If "decem" is Latin for "ten" (thus the words decimal, decade, etc.), then why is December the 12th month of the year? There are also surprises for even the generally well educated: the Gregorian calendar "of 1582" wasn't accepted in England and America until 1752.

Sheding light on a mystery
This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys quarky history books. Not only is it an excellent source for learning all about the calendar, but it follows the maintenence of the calendar all through the dark ages and it sheds a lot of light on the dark ages. The reasons for why are calendar is what it is today is facinating history and Duncan presents it in a way that captures the reader. ... Read more

Book Description

The purpose of this book is to present in a unified, completely algorithmic form, a description of thirteen calendars and how they relate to one another: the present civil calendar (Gregorian), the recent ISO commercial calendar, the old civil calendar (Julian), the Coptic and (virtually identical) Ethiopic calendars, the Islamic (Moslem) calendar, the Baha'i, the Hebrew (Jewish) calendar, the Mayan calendars, the French Revolutionary calendar, the Chinese calendar, and both the old (mean) and new (true) Hindu (Indian) calendars. Easy conversion among these calendars is a by-product of the approach, as is the determination of secular and religious holidays. Calendrical Calculations makes accurate calendrical algorithms readily available for computer use. This volume will be a valuable resource for working programmers, as well as a fount of useful algorithmic tools for computer scientists. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Ignore the reviewers virtualtraveler and "A reader"
The reason why these people use the code in Emacs is that they wrote it. The authors virtually created the field of computerised calendaring, and then published the algorithms in two landmark papers in SPE in 1990 and 1993.

An excellent book with a mean spirited license
An excellent book on the history and workings of various calendars. But don’t use the source code! The licensing agreement is a trap. Use the code in GNU Emacs from the Free Software Foundation distributed under theGeneral Public License. It does everything the authors code does (exceptfor two obscure calendars) and it's free and always will be.

highly readable and reliable description of many calendars
The book explains the structure of 14 calendars, and gives easily comprehensible formulae for the conversion of a date in any of these calendars into a day count, and back to the calendar date. It also includesmany holidays for these calendars.

Rather than on the history ofcalendars or their cultural background, the focus is on a lucid, correct,and complete exposition of their functional principles. Extensivebibliographic references are given to the primary sources for eachcalendar.

A highlight is the complete specification of several calendarsdepending on fairly precise timings of astronomical phenomena (Chinesecalendar and some Hindu religious calendars).

To make it self-contained,the book explains the necessary mathematical and astronomical background.The astronomical models are taken from the classic 1991 book"Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.

I especially like thepresentation of the calendrical formulae in an essentially non-algorithmicmanner, using normal mathematical notation. This makes it easy to furtheranalyze these formulae.

For instance, if one wants to know how good anapproximation to the spring equinox is March 21 in the Gregorian calendar,one finds from the formula on page 36 in the book that midnight of March 21in Gregorian year Y is exactly

Y·365.2425 - (Y mod 4)·97/400 + (floor(Y/4) mod 25)·3/100- (floor(Y/100) mod 4)/4

daysafter midnight of March 21 in Gregorian year 0, which ranges fromY·365.2425 - 1.4775 up to Y·365.2425 + 0.72. Thus, even assuming theGregorian approximation of 365.2425 days to the tropical year, springequinoxes are distributed over at least three dates in March in theGregorian calendar.

Such reasonings would be very difficult if the bookspecified the calendars only in terms of programming language code.

Theformulae are designed so that it is easy to incorporate them into codewritten in the programming language of your choice. This use is furthersupported by a set of test dates in an appendix. Another appendix lists anexample implementation of all the formulae, in the programming languageCommon Lisp. This code (intended for personal use) can also be downloadedfrom the internet.

But this book is much more than a collection ofprogramming recipes for many calendars -- it makes you understand thestructure of those calendars. Ambitious readers can even find the data andthe methods to construct their own calendrical formulae.

What would Ilike to be changed in the book? Not much. Some of the calendrical formulaecould be further simplified, the astronomical terminology could bemodernized in places, and perhaps some additional historical informationcould be added. And, of course, even more calendars! For instance, some ofthe proposed reformed calendars, a more widespread version of the Persiancalendar, or an historic Japanese calendar.

This book is a must foreverybody wanting reliable and highly readable information on thefunctional principles of the world's calendars.

Michael Deckers

Potentially good book rendered totally useless by license.
If it were possible to give this book a ZERO rating, I would have done so. Right on page xxi, the authors purport to license their "Functions (code, formulas, and calendar data)" subject to both copyright andunspecified pending PATENT claims, and to restrict the use of such"Functions" to "strictly personal use." This is a bookreview, not a tutorial on patent law, so I don't even want to comment onthe dubious validity of a PATENT claim covering purely mathematicalfunctions. The authors are entitled to copyright protection on their actualsource code examples, but asserting PATENT claims over mathematicalfunctions is fundamentally abusive to the reader. As a result, if you haveany practical goal for the information in this book and are considering itfor other than mere personal amusement value, buy some other book instead.The license is particularly egregious since, on page xix, the authorsexplicitly acknowledge that all but two of the historical calendars arerepresented in GNU Emacs from the Free Software Foundation, proponent ofthe "copyleft" GNU General Public License!

Just what I needed.
In the course of building a 10,000 year clock I needed to know a lot of obscure details about various calendar systems. Calendrical Calculations not only answered all my questions, but it also introduced me to a lot ofinteresting information that I never would have thought to ask about. It isone of those rare books that is both an authoritative reference source anda fun read. ... Read more

Book Description

Visit the past of future with safe and proven methods.We have long been taught that time travel is impossible and the work of science fiction, but during the past several decades secret agencies with the u.s. militarty have successfully been crossing the barriers of space and time. Here is the shattering evidence that we are being visited by 'time surfers' for the future and that we too can journey forward and backwards. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Rubbish
As someone who is visiting the year 2004 from the future, I can tell you that this book is bloody rubbish! I was sent here from the year 2097 to gain access to a document the is needed by the USE to provide a legal footing for the suspension of the Kilo-Euro. That document will be sold on eBay in November of this year and lost if I am not able to buy it. I have been here since 01 March to allow time for me to become proficient in the use of non-cerebral interface computers, understand your customs, set up a bank accout and earn money to pay for the document I need. I wish I could go into more detail about how time manipulation works, but that could cause some real problems for me. Let me just say that it is a very simple mechanical process that could have been mastered in the 1920s if someone had just thought of it.

If only it were true . . .
I wish this book really taught me how to travel through time because if it did, I would go back in time and tell myself not to buy this book.

A waste of money and time
this book is a waste of your money and time the title is totally misleading because there is no really info or how to here about time travel like the others reviewers say I gonna sell this book or put it in the garbage save your money.

Wish I could go back in time...
Wish I could go back in time and not buy this book. This is perhaps the first time I really feel regret over the purchase of a book from Amazon. The first sign of trouble were the ads in the back of the book for publications about Black helicopters, conspiracy summits and UFOs. I felt like I was waiting in line at a supermarket thumbing through the Enquirer or The Weekly World News. The publishers bill this book as a How-To guide to time travel when in fact 95% of the book is dedicated to silly anecdotes about unexplained disappearances and Twilight Zone-like time travel episodes. When it finally gets to demonstrating Time Travel techniques it resorts to common new age cheese like Astral projections OBE. And to add insult, they offer childish schematics for gFlux Capacitorsh designed by an admitted mental patient. Ifll let you read that last sentence again in case you thought I was kidding. I could go on about this book, but I think I have already wasted enough time. Suffice to say, your money is better spent on a few cold beers and ohckeep away from anything published by Global Communications unless youfre one that thinks the X-Files is a documentary.

Where is the Time Travel Information????
If you enjoy reading accounts of strange events then this is probably a good book. Out of app 185 pages only 20 had any "real" information and that was mainly how to do astal or out of body travel. Big Deal many books have much better information about that. Where is the time travel how to? I don't care that "Joe" stepped under a ladder and was never seen again. This book is supposed to be a how to not reports from mag's, newspapers, etc about strange disappearances. Very, Very disappointed and you will see my copy on Ebay. ... Read more

Book Description

Timeshift is an experimental linguistic voyage into the fabric of our thinking. Time is the principal component of our psychology; it is the master shaper of future, past and present. Time is witnessed through links in consciousness structured in our nervous system. We interpret these time codes as messages based in our rational intellect. This book is a gate into a non-linear perspective of time. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Experiencing the Shift
For anyone seriously interested in realizing what the "new age" is all about, I would say--read this book. The author not only talks about the shift that is "coming soon," she gives you an experience of it here and now. Her style of writing is unique, to say the least, and is not easy reading, but I found by not trying to understand the words intellectually, I was able to allow the words to penetrate to a deeper level. At that point something in the brain shifted and a whole new multidimensional reading experience opened up. It's kind of like those 3-D pictures that are totally impenetrable in 2-D, but if you relax the focus in a particular way, a whole new three-dimensional experience opens up. I would suggest reading the introduction first. It gives a good perspective on how to read the book.

wierd
Maybe the author understands what she is talking about, but I sure didn't!!

Healing the Whole, Healing Ourselves
Timeshift has as its basic premise an idea similar to the main thought of Secret of the Golden Flower: That we grow not by keeping our attention exclusively on what's in front of us, but by turning our "light" or consciousness around and shining it back at its source. Related also is one of the keys to energy work with the human body, that nothing comes into the physical that does not first appear in finer bodies up the line, and that incipient infirmities can actually be more easily worked with on these more etheric levels.

Consciousness goes in a great cycle or loop, according to the author's direct insight, from its source down through the levels into manifestation and then back to reconnect with unmanifest energy. So long as the reconnecting continues, the process stays open and free, and new forms can easily evolve. When, however, consciousness neglects to revisit its source, the forms of the past begin to weigh it down and evolution's options become increasingly restricted.

The author brings her information from a point very close to the source, so her descriptions are necessarily abstract-so much so that her prose often gives the reader an experience similar to that of reading poetry. You do not get the point on a simple one-to-one relationship between sentence and thought. Rather, you will get a flash of an image a couple of times on each page. This is enough. I could feel myself growing as I read! An example:

"Time causes all matter to move as pearls on a thread arranged in a spiral . . . If you shake the pearls at the center, the two ends will also jiggle.

"When we understand our interconnectedness, time can open us to its rendering value-the creative influence of time on the unmanifest. Probabilities spread themselves throughout our individual and collective universe. Interactions occur that heretofore we did not think possible. When we are no longer attempting to escape time but climb within it, the vaults open and the possible links between our venturesome spirit and our creative intelligence can come into play."

If you can relax the need to "structure" this information flow as you read it, you will actually find yourself with the author, close to the source, and prior to the formation of the hardened mental structures we create and then hold onto for dear life because we have temporarily misplaced our connection with the source.

The book has four parts or focuses: the first is the most general, dealing with the dimensions, including space and especially time. Second is a brilliant perspective on the human mind and on psychology. Third, the author goes into the bodies physical and energetic, and finally, a deeply connecting view of the changes the planet itself has initiated.

I personally feel that Timeshift is the most important book I have ever read, and I am no longer easily impressed. This book explains how we construct reality and shows us why and how to clear away the rubble from the matrices we call our minds. It also shows us in a very specific way how to then re-open the heart.

The Whole has evidently decided to become Its own healer, Its own therapist, and Timeshift is Its first book. All thoughtful and open-minded people will gain immensely from reading it. ... Read more

Book Description

While it may seem indisputable that time flows in a linear fashion (from past to future), there are a number of philosophical and physical objections to this notion. In the quest to make sense of this conundrum, philosophers and physicists confront fascinating and irresistible questions such as whether effects can precede causes, and whether one can travel in time. In this book, eleven eminent scholars who stand at the boundary between physics and philosophy attempt to answer these questions. There are chapters by W. Unruh and H. Price on cosmology; A. Leggett, P. Stamp, and S. McCall on quantum theory; M. Barrett, E. Sober, and L. Sklar on thermodynamics, and P. Horwich and J. Earman on time travel. The book will be enjoyed by anyone of a speculative turn of mind fascinated by the puzzle of time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Read this book.
The nature of time is one of the oldest and most basic questions in Western philosophy; since we are all destined to grow older and watch irreversible changes in our bodies, and we are all aware that we will eventually die, it is probably a basic and inherent question in all philosophical systems. Whoever tries to understand the nature of time must explain two of its apparent characteristics: it seems to be unidirectional and unchanging. This perhaps explains the name of this book, which is concerned not only with the direction of time but also with time's essential nature. This book is one of a large number on the subject which have been published recently. I haven't read the others, being more familiar with earlier discussions of the question, but I have two remarks to make about this one: Anyone who doesn't read it is missing something, and the general level of academic philosophy has greatly improved in the last few years, which I've noticed in other books as well.

Most of the articles in this collection are good, but I particularly enjoyed four of them. The first is Savitt's historical overview of modern discussions of the direction of time, which is just that, and excellent.

The second is Unruh's discusssion of the new role of time in general relativity and quantum mechanics. Unruh begins by by saying the Newton "tells us that it is unnecessary to define time, but then proceeds to do just that". Unruh misunderstands Newton, who indeed leaves time undefined; what Unruh thinks is a definition is a warning not to confuse physical time, which needs no substrate, with common concepts of time based on recurrent phenomena in concrete objects. It's when Unruh talks about relativistic time that he really comes into his own. He explains that gravitation is an inherent consequence, an epiphenomenon, of the concept of spacetime. Few of his colleagues try to explain what gravity is, one of the really basic questions; they delude themselves into thinking they have done so when they have really only described anew how is behaves quantitatively. He also has a section on time in quantum mechanics which can serve as an ultrashort introduction to some of the basic concepts of that entire subject.

The second of Sklar's articles here is mainly a critique of attempts to explain perceived time in terms of entropy. Most of his objections can be countered by replacing the concept of entropy in systems external to the person by that of neurochemical systems which are inherently asymmetrical under physiological constraints, but his discussion is deep and enlightening.

Barrett and Sober point out that entropy, the most popular word in modern explanations of time, "is well-defined [only] for chambers of gases", and proceed to construct an abstract mathematical concept of entropy which will also be useful in discussions of time.

In addition to everything else, most of the articles in this book, including these four, are beautifully literate, written by and for educated people. Anybody with an interest in time, or metaphysics generally, will profit from and enjoy reading it. Only elemantary mathematics, if any, is really necessary ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Highly recommended!
The Deconstruction of Time is a necessary read for anyone interested in phenomenology or deconstruction--and David Wood shows clearly why an interest in one requires an interest in the other. He does so by tracing the central importance of the concept of time in works by Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger and Derrida. In each case, Wood analyzes the treatment of time with a clarity that makes the book accessible by nonexperts, and a rare sensitivity that will undoubtedly appeal to the well-versed reader as well. Taking the question of time as its axis, The Deconstruction of Time shows what is at stake in practicing phenomenology or deconstruction, illuminating along the way the fundamental tendencies, limitations, and values of each. In addition to his lucid analyses, Wood also offers sophisticated problematizations of the texts and positions he treats, submitting phenomenology to deconstruction, and holding deconstruction to a sort of phenomenological standard--he walks a fine and cautious line between the dominant impulses of these two ways of thinking about time, and he does so with grace and wit. Highly recommended!

A brilliant work
This book is a fascinating reflection on the possibility of thinking time outside of the traditional metaphysical logic of
representation. David Wood shows that the contemporary
deconstructions of time lead to opening a sense -- and a future -- of philosophy as event, and performativity.
This is an important and original work, and a brilliant demonstration of what it might mean to speak of time, and thinking, as event. It also performs new interpretations of the works of Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, and Derrida. ... Read more

Book Description

Newly revised and updated study offers an unusually clear and accessible introduction to time: its measurement, historic timekeeping methods, the uses of time information, the role of time in science and technology, and much more. Over 300 drawings and cartoons enliven the text.
... Read more

Reviews (1)

A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROCESS OF TIME
This book has been long recommended by various financial publications relating to commodity trading using Gann techniques where it is said that time is more important than price and thats why I purchased it. It gives a detail understanding of man's quest to have accurate time down to one-miooionth of a second! It explains the need for accurate time down to such small increments for its particular user group. In the final chapters, time is dealt with in relation to mathematics, physics and astronomy. I did not find it to have much value to Wall Street operations, but as a science book, it is great in its own right. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Nice introductory book about the calendar
The history of the calendar is a very interesting topic which can fill thick book, however this one has just 140 pages, and has lots of (really good) illustrations, thus it can only contain a short introduction on this. Especially as I read this book after the much more elaborated books of Duncan Steel or David Ewing Duncan the only new thing in this were the pictures and the appendix containing some historic texts.

Sadly the book also contains some minor errors, especially with the chinese calendar which the author uses as an example for the co-existence of the gregorian calendar with a cultural historic calendar: The last calendar reform in China wasn't in 104BC, but instead in 1645 (not counting the switch to gregorian of course), and the chinese calendar was made in sync with the Meton cycle only before 104BC. And the rule for chinese New Year being the second new moon after winter solstice is only a rule-of-thumb for most cases, not the actual definition of this feast.

Another error is that she says the calendar reform of Julius Caesar did not only bring Rome an orderly calendar, but also converted a lunisolar calendar into a solar one. However the lunar part of Rome's calendar was lost in the centuries before already.

So this book is OK for an introduction for people without much knowledge about this topic, but for anyone who wants to delve deeper into this topic I recommend the books mentioned before instead. ... Read more

Book Description

Why does time appear to run in only one direction?We remember the past- but why not the future?We can influence the future- but could we, even theoretically, influence the past?Generations of philosophers and theologians, physicists and mathematicians have puzzles and speculated about these and the many other questions that surround the concept of time.Recent scientific work is said to explain the directionality of time.But time still contains many mysteries- black holes and big bangs, asymmetries and relativities, arrows and loops - that will doubtless continue to occupy us for centuries to come.In this impressive collection of original articles ten internationally known scholars explore and explains the nature of time, apace and now space-time.Founded on the latest developments in thermodynamics, quantum theory and cosmology, their ideas will fascinate anyone interested in Einstein's theory of relativity. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Erudite and Highly Readable
Is there an error in my title? A contradiction, perhaps? Not at all. This collection of essays by many noted experts, based on a series of public lectures at Oxford University, is an intelligent and entertaining review of many fields in philosophy and modern physics.

It's surprising, really, how many people have such a strong interest in the most exotic and often difficult aspects of physics. For the reader who is not afraid of careful reading and thinking, Flood and Lockwood's The Nature of Time will provide one of the best brief accounts of these topics.

So, what is the nature of time? There are no spoilers in this review; after a hundred seventy pages a definitive answer is still lacking. The point of these essays is to describe the state of our current knowledge and the direction of our current thinking. The depth of knowledge presented by the essayists is impressive, with all of them seeming coversant in what the others are doing, even crossing the physics/philosophy divide. At times it is not clear how the discussion relates to time, but of course this is a complicated subject, and the authors make their points clear soon enough.

I would say that this work is an excellent second book on the subject. Someone with no background in physics (and by this I mean not even modern popular physics - certainly formal university study is not a must here) will probably find much of the talk difficult. But once you have some background, you'll find here an eminently readable and useful discussion of the fields. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Fascinating
Aveni's book is a fascinating portrait of the rhythms and roles of time keeping in a variety of cultures including the Aztec, Inca, Maya, and ancient Chinese. A fascinating exploration of a topic we all too often don't bother to consdier. ... Read more

Book Description

Concerned with the very subject that gives the Millennium its meaning-time--"The Story of Time" is one of the most important, high-profile books published to mark this momentous occasion.Multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural in its subject matter and approach, and all encompassing in its scope, the book features an outstanding international cast of authors, including Umberto Eco and Sir Ernst Gombrich-every one a world-renowned expert from the fields of science, art, history, philosophy and culture. Challenging yet accessible, "The Story of Time" is lavishly illustrated in color, depicting over 250 important and famous artifacts, from Ancient Egyptian calendars and medieval scenes of The Apocalypse to the distorted clock paintings of Dali and recent photographs of the universe taken from the Hubble telescope. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An illustrated Encyclopedia of Time
This beautifully designed and printed book was actually the catalogue of the exhibition "The Story of Time" which was hosted by the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Already from the introductions of the directors of these institutions, as well as a Preface Essay entitled "Times" by Umberto Eco, the reader will be aware of the high standard of this publication. It is an attempt to depict the human experience with time in all its forms.

The catalogue is divided into five main sections: 1.) "The Creation of Time": A brief survey of early concepts of time in different cultures, for example, Biblical, Hindu, Native American, and Maori. 2.) "The Measurement of Time": The different modes of measuring time beginning with early calendars in different cultures, progressing to early european mechanical clocks, and culminating with chronometers and radio controlled clocks. 3.) "The Depiction of Time": In Painting, Sculpture, Calligraphy and Allegory. From Breughel to Chinese Sculpture this chapter shows the obsession of depicting time in art and in symbolizing it. 4.) "The Experience of Time": Here other ways of experiencing time are discussed, in music, historical time, human time and time in culture. 5.) "The End of Time": A brief chapter in which different conceptions are shown how it would be possible for time to end (and when) and different historical and contemporary depictions are shown.

Sections 2.) and 3.) are by far the largest, which is obvious from their subject matter, and the fact that this is an exhibition catalogue. Interspersed in all five sections are interesting essays on different aspects of time and its influence and pre-occupation on human beings, by well known scholars such as E.H. Gombrich. These range from "Inuit Time" to "Time in the History of Medecine". Most fascinating are the hundreds of excellent illustrations, mostly of time keeping devices and time in art representing many cultures and time periods. The book is handsomely bound, well printed and presented and the illustrations are clear. This book is encyclopedic in its scope and is fascinating to read. It is reasonably priced and highly recommended.

A Fantastic Beautiful Volume
A varied and comprehensive tome on time and what it does to us. The illustrations are organized in such a way that one feels as if one is swimming in a treasure chest of global artifacts. I ADORE IT! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A ground breaking work!
This was a real eye opener! The stories showed the interdependence of geography and history and how one cannot exist without the other. I never knew so many historical events had so many geographic links. I'm glad I have it in my library. ... Read more