時間看似自然流動，實則深受人類測量方式的形塑。本書以年代為軸，帶領讀者認識計時工具如何逐步走向精準，也如何影響現代生活的節奏與秩序。從擺鐘的規律擺動，到幾乎不誤差的原子鐘，作者清楚說明技術背後的原理，同時穿插生動軼事，使內容不流於艱深。書中指出，計時精度的提升不只是科學成就，也牽動工業、航海與社會運作的改變。對關心科學發展、時間概念或現代文明形成的讀者而言，本書提供了一條理解時間的清晰路徑。・以故事方式呈現科學史・說明計時技術的文化影響・科學與人文兼顧A perfect balance of science, history, and sociology, Time's Pendulum traces the important developments in humankind's epic quest to measure the hours, days, and years with accuracy, and how our concept of time has changed with each new technological breakthrough. Written in an easy-to-follow chronological format and illustrated with entertaining anecdotes, author Jo Ellen Barnett's history of timekeeping covers everything from the earliest sundials and water clocks, to the pendulum and the more recent advances of battery-powered, quartz-regulated wrist watches and the powerful radioactive "clock," which loses only a few billionths of a second per day, making it nearly ten billion times more accurate than the pendulum clock. A tour of the discoveries and the inv
