Time and Time-Tellers

Benson, James W., active 1857-1887Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 226K words
Chapters: 23

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Time and Time-Tellers by active 1857-1887 James W. BensonAuthor: Benson, James W., active 1857-1887,Language: English, Class: TS: Technology: Manufactures, Release Date: Jun 4, 2014

Editor's review

This book revolves around “time” and “time-tellers.” Writing from the perspective of a late nineteenth-century technical writer, Benson surveys clockmaking, the evolution of timekeeping instruments, and related craft knowledge; it belongs to the early genre of popular technical writing. Its strength lies in grounding abstract notions of time in concrete mechanical devices and manufacturing detail, letting readers see how people before the electronic age understood, measured, and maintained time. As a free Project Gutenberg ebook, it is better suited as supplementary reading in the history of technology and horology than as a systematic textbook. While reading, pay attention to its descriptions of crafts and industry, which are helpful for understanding Victorian technical culture, but verify specific figures against modern research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the history of horology and the evolution of timekeeping technology
Those studying nineteenth-century technical writing and craft literature
Readers who enjoy mechanical manufacturing detail and can tolerate older expository prose
Students who need English-language technical historical sources for supplementary reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who want to learn modern clock repair systematically
General readers expecting popular stories or light popular science
Readers with little patience for old-style technical language and long expository passages

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and read selectively in the order “concept of time—timekeeping devices—manufacturing craft.”
When encountering mechanical terms, compare them with modern diagrams of clock structure for more efficient comprehension.
Compare the book’s descriptions with current timekeeping technology and take notes on technological evolution.
The English expository prose is long; read it in sections and excerpt key definitions and craft points.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can this book be used to learn clock repair?

No. It is a nineteenth-century work of popular technical and historical exposition, not a modern repair manual; it lacks operating steps and contemporary tool descriptions. To learn repair, choose a modern clock repair textbook; this book is suitable only as background reading.

Is the content outdated?

The timekeeping technology and industry conditions it covers are clearly limited by their era, and some knowledge has been superseded by later technology. But as a document in the history of technology, it still has value for understanding; when reading, distinguish “historical information” from “current knowledge.”

Is it suitable for readers with no background?

Not very. The text is written in expository English and contains mechanical and manufacturing terminology; readers with no background can easily lose the thread in jargon and long sentences. If interested, first read modern introductory material on horological history, then return to this book.

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About the author

Benson, James W., active 1857-1887 Author

James W. Benson (Benson, James W.) was a writer active between 1857 and 1887, though details of his life are very limited in publicly available sources; his nationality, birth and death dates, and educational background cannot be confirmed. Only one work by him is held in this collection, Time and Time-Tellers, whose title suggests a focused treatment of timekeeping instruments and those who keep time, falling within writing on clocks, watches, and the measurement of time. Such subjects generally require the author to observe and organize material on mechanical devices and everyday timekeeping practices, with an emphasis on explanation and description. Given the scarcity of information, Benson's overall style and influence are difficult to assess, and his name survives in bibliographic records mainly through this single work, which may be of interest to readers studying the history of timekeeping and Victorian technical writing.