The history of timekeeping is treated with a light touch, consisting of one fascinating and frequently romantic story after another . Beautifully written and endlessly fascinating, it feels like this was a story waiting to be written.

From 44,000-year-old human artifacts to sea exploration to Mount Everest and from rigorous eighteenth-century watchmaking standards to World War I trenches, Struthers relays fascinating anecdotes along the road of the evolution of timekeeping and watches.The invention of timepieces was more significant for human culture than the printing press, or even the wheel. Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook). Rebecca Struthers (who keeps her PhD quiet, which seems to reflect the way she comes across from writing) does an outstanding job reflecting on the history of time-keeping and the impact that time has on our lives.

A fascinating and truly delightful look into the world of watchmaking, the history and science behind this marvellous subject. Other than the more technical sections, Hands of Time reads like a thoroughly enjoyable novel, fun to sit and read.Data enthusiasts will love the detailed footnotes, glossary of terms, bibliography, further rescues, and extensive notes. This book begins with the very first known evidence of humans' attempts to track time, to the first clocks every made to modern day timepieces. I really enjoyed this, even if I would zone out very briefly when we got too into the details of the inside of a watch (I didn't really care for the final chapter at all). We've minimized the paperwork and maximized protection, so you can stop worrying about your watches and focus on enjoying them. It was thorough and detailed but not dry, it reads more like you met the author at a dinner party and had a fascinating conversation about watches.

An exquisite book, as beautifully put together as one of the watches whose mechanisms Rebecca describes. I had spent years being stressed, anxious, and exhausted, but I hadn't allowed for happiness, and now I might be out of time. Rebecca Struthers has crafted a literary masterpiece that delves into the captivating art of horology and takes us on a profound historical odyssey.A very enjoyable, quick, read full of fascinating history, wonderful reflective thoughts on time itself, and just the right balance of history, science, and the authors' own experiences as a watchmaker. Rolex was the brainchild of a German advertising expert, who bought cheap Swiss movements, assembled them in London and marketed the resulting wrist watches as the perfect tool for the macho adventurer, in an era when wrist watches were generally seen as effeminate. There are a lot of fascinating horological history facts in here, as well as a good deal of her own personal reflections on her life and the events that brought her where she currently is in her life and career. A rattling, wonderful, decidedly non-nerdy read for anyone with an interest of how time made us who we are. The watch has sculpted the social and economic development of modern society; it is an object that, when disassembled, can give us new insights both into the motivations of inventors and craftsmen of the past, and, into the lives of the people who treasured them.

I have started to read this book just because i am huge mechanical watch enthusiast and I was hoping to learn more about wristwatches and their history. Struthers approaches this history with a eye for interesting stories which sum up large portions of the human relationship with time. For example, the impact of religion on timekeepers and our perception of time is told with Mary Queen of Scots' skull watch (from the 1500s, when reminders of death were ubiquitous).

This engaging, rewarding book is full of mechanical complexities and wonderfully interesting details . Hands of Time” is Rebecca Struthers memoir of her experience as a watchmaker – or perhaps more accurately, as a horologist. The Swiss developed an establissage system of mass production based on division of labor, allowing it to eventually overtake England as the heart of watchmaking.