Summary of David Rooney's About Time

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of David Rooney's About Time in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: Through the stories of twelve clocks, About Time brings pivotal moments from the past vividly to life. Historian and lifelong clock enthusiast David Rooney takes us from the unveiling of al-Jazari’s castle clock in 1206, in present-day Turkey; to the Cape of Good Hope observatory at the southern tip of Africa, where nineteenth-century British government astronomers moved the gears of empire with a time ball and a gun; to the burial of a plutonium clock now sealed beneath a public park in Osaka, where it will keep time for 5,000 years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669344049

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on David Rooney's About Time

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

On September 1, 1983, a Korean Air Lines flight from Alaska to Seoul was intercepted by a Soviet Sukhoi Su-15 fighter jet. The flight crew had no idea they were in danger, as their navigation systems were not set properly.

#2

The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, and today there are approximately 32 active satellites at any given time. The military system, which allows planes to navigate without having to rely on their onboard navigation systems, was first used in 1983 to find the wreckage of KAL 007.

#3

Clocks have been around for a long time, and have been used for many different purposes. This book will examine twelve real historical clocks to show how, for thousands of years, time has been harnessed, politicized and weaponized.

#4

The author grew up in a family that ran a clock-restoration and -making business. She later went on to study physics and history of science and technology, both of which she was fascinated with. She later worked as a curator of technology at the Science Museum in London.

#5

The author will be examining the history of clocks from a personal, idiosyncratic and above all partial point of view.

#6

The first public sundial in Rome was put up in the Forum Romanum, and became a target for playwrights and critics who poured scorn on the new timekeeping devices.

#7

The Tower of the