A Geography of Time

(Paperback, New edition)

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Description

In this engaging and humorous book, eminent social psychologist Roberts Levine explores a dimension of our experience that we take for granted our experience of time. Taking us on an enchanting tour through the ages and around the world, we travel to Brazil, where to be three hours late is perfectly acceptable, and to Japan, were he finds a sense of the long-term that is unheard of in the West, as well as to remote places in the world where long-term that is unheard of in the West, as well as to remote places in the world where 'nature time', the rhythms of the sun and the seasons, is the only time to live by. From the sundials of ancient Greece to the origins of 'clock time' in the Industrial Revolution, Levine asks, how do we use our time Are we ruled by the clock What does this do to our cities, our bodies Perhaps, he argues, time as a human construct has come to define and constrain cultures, while instead we ought to function 'multitemporally', each of us charting our own geography of time.

Reviews

'Packed with interesting observations and information.' - Anthony Storr, Washington Times 'An elegant gem. Levine combines brilliant observations, original field experiments, and wide ranging scholarship to generate an original view.' - Philip Zimbardo, Stanford University

Author Bio

Robert Levine (Fresno, CA) is Associate Dean, College of Science and Mathematics, and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Fresno. He has published articles in Psychology Today, Discover, American Demographics, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and American Scientist.