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Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle To Determine A True And Accurate Year by David Ewing Duncan
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
4.0
This book focuses mainly on the calendar of that the Western world uses, and how it came into being. It does touch on various other calendars (Hebrew, Mayan, etc.) but does not explore these in depth. There is a good amount of math, which I found myself either going over several times to try and understand or skimming over in order to maintain focused on the story. Don't let this stop you though, because the book is really very interesting and quite well written.
mdewit's review against another edition
4.0
"Nothing is perfect, particularly nature..." A quote from Duncan's book that nicely sums up humankind's quest for order and perfection in understanding time.
merricatct's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite aspect of microhistories is how the book's subject is a lens through which you view much more of history than you originally expect. Honestly, how much can a book talk specifically about cod/milk/toilets/cochineal/paper/a calendar, the thing? You'd run out of details about the specific thing pretty quickly, especially in a popular history book meant for general consumption. It's the context that I really love - the reasons that the thing mattered, or didn't matter; the historical events affected by it; the fascinating connections that the thing enables.
In this case, the thing is the calendar, or more accurately, how humans tracked time and dates throughout history. And in the tradition of microhistories, this book about calendar touches on a range of topics and notable historical personalities. This was a solid popular history book, despite some pretty noticeable errors and typos. It was a little bit of an effort to stay engaged, particularly in the middle section, but ultimately worth the read.
In this case, the thing is the calendar, or more accurately, how humans tracked time and dates throughout history. And in the tradition of microhistories, this book about calendar touches on a range of topics and notable historical personalities. This was a solid popular history book, despite some pretty noticeable errors and typos. It was a little bit of an effort to stay engaged, particularly in the middle section, but ultimately worth the read.
collegecate's review against another edition
4.0
First red this ages ago in college...it's a good thing to read if you're into history because it makes you question the validity of every date you've ever seen.
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