About the Book

From the earliest recorded date, people have tried to organize their lives according to the movements of the sun, moon and stars — and have, for the most part, gotten it wrong. In his bestselling book Calendar, David Ewing Duncan takes students on an extraordinary journey through humanity’s reckoning of time, ranging from the earliest calendars to the atomic clocks of today, which measure time too well for an ever-slowing Earth.

Our present calendar system predates the invention of the telescope, the mechanical clock, and the concept of zero, and its development is one of the great untold stories of science. How did Pope Gregory correct a calendar which was off by at least ten full days? What did time mean to a farmer in 800 C.E.? Stonehenge, the Mayan observatories at Chichen Itza and the pyramids of Giza are all featured in this compelling volume. Duncan explores fascinating questions about the nature of human timekeeping and the remarkable achievement that is our calendar.

David Ewing Duncan is the author of five books, including the international bestseller Calendar, and writes for Wired, Discover, and The Atlantic Monthly. He is a freelance producer and correspondent for ABC’s Nightline, and a commentator on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” He also writes the popular “Biotech and Creativity” column for the San Francisco Chronicle. In 2003, he won the Magazine Journalism Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He lives in San Francisco, California.

“David Duncan illuminates our calendar’s remarkable evolution not just by telling us about time but also by letting us travel through it.” — Toronto Globe and Mail

Product Details

• ISBN: 9780380793242
• ISBN 10: 0380793245
• Imprint: Harper Perennial
• On Sale: 06/01/1999
• Trimsize: 5.250 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.790 in (d)
• Pages: 352
• List Price: $13.50
• BISAC1 : HISTORY / General
• BISAC2 : HISTORY / World
• BISAC3 : SCIENCE / Astronomy
• BISAC4 : SCIENCE / Time