Making Time for Time
The clock is not merely a means of keeping track of the hours, but of synchronizing the actions of men. The clock, not the steam-engine, is the key-machine of the modern industrial age... In its relationship to determinable qualities of energy, to standardization, to automatic action, and finally to its own special product, accurate timing, the clock has been the foremost machine in modern technics; and at each period it has remained in the lead; it marks a perfection toward which other machines aspire.
LEWIS MUMFORD, Technic and Civilization
It is no understatement that time shapes our lives. Most people operate within a margin of, plus or minus, several minutes. If they have a train to catch, they get to the station a few minutes early; likewise for appointments. A respect for time is developed very early in life, in fact during infancy. As soon as we can understand language we pick up such notions as mealtime and bedtime and this concept of certain times being dedicated to certain activities stays with us for the duration of our lives. Our world is obsessed with time. Most of the important tasks we do each day are done at specific times. We wake up at a certain time, we go to class (or work) at a certain time, we eat at specific times, we got to appointments, and we even watch certain TV shows at specified times.
It is mindboggling to think of the grasp time has on us.Man is faced with so many questions concerning time. When did time begin? When will the world end? When will we die? We can only ask these questions because time exists.
E-mail:9_mdesmarais@fair1.fairfield.edu