Why Time Flies


Book Description

“[Why Time Flies] captures us. Because it opens up a well of fascinating queries and gives us a glimpse of what has become an ever more deepening mystery for humans: the nature of time.” —The New York Times Book Review “Erudite and informative, a joy with many small treasures.” —Science “Time” is the most commonly used noun in the English language; it’s always on our minds and it advances through every living moment. But what is time, exactly? Do children experience it the same way adults do? Why does it seem to slow down when we’re bored and speed by as we get older? How and why does time fly? In this witty and meditative exploration, award-winning author and New Yorker staff writer Alan Burdick takes readers on a personal quest to understand how time gets in us and why we perceive it the way we do. In the company of scientists, he visits the most accurate clock in the world (which exists only on paper); discovers that “now” actually happened a split-second ago; finds a twenty-fifth hour in the day; lives in the Arctic to lose all sense of time; and, for one fleeting moment in a neuroscientist’s lab, even makes time go backward. Why Time Flies is an instant classic, a vivid and intimate examination of the clocks that tick inside us all.







Eleventh Hour


Book Description

An elephant's eleventh birthday party is marked by eleven games preceding the banquet to be eaten at the eleventh hour; but when the time to eat arrives, the birthday feast has disappeared. The reader is invited to guess the thief.




Thirteen O'Clock


Book Description

As a mysterious old clock strikes thirteen, monsters and ghouls appear looking for a snack and a little mischief at the expense of the small girl who lives down the hall.




Seize the Daylight


Book Description

Benjamin Franklin conceived of it. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle endorsed it. Winston Churchill campaigned for it. Kaiser Wilhelm first employed it. Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt went to war with it, and more recently the United States fought an energy crisis with it. For several months every year, for better or worse, daylight savings time affects vast numbers of people throughout the world. And from Ben Franklin's era to today, its story has been an intriguing and sometimes-bizarre amalgam of colorful personalities and serious technical issues, purported costs and perceived benefits, conflicts between interest groups and government policymakers. It impacts diverse and unexpected areas, including agricultural practices, street crime, the reporting of sports scores, traffic accidents, the inheritance rights of twins, and voter turnout. Illustrated with a popular look at science and history, Seize the Daylight presents an intriguing and surprisingly entertaining story of our attempt to regulate the sunlight hours.




I'm Sorry about the Clock


Book Description

Pendleton, that virtually none of these temporal incoherences seem to have been noted before. Moreover, this study departs from the critical consensus that the earlier drafts of the novel are evidence of Fitzgerald's consummate artistry. Among the discoveries presented here are that Fitzgerald made no use of the 1922 calendar; that he did not work out the novel's time scheme until after completing about half of the manuscript version (possibly because he intended Gatsby to be much longer); and that, quite probably, he attempted to disguise at least some of the book's temporal misplacements and contradictions. Further, this study shows that even the most praised of Fitzgerald's revisions - his relocation of materials dealing with Gatsby's past so as to gradually reveal his secret - was apparently without exception accompanied by faulty temporal connections to the plot line.




Six O'clock


Book Description

An African-American woman who lacks the desirable curves of her culture struggles to find love, and herself, in this compelling urban tale from a fresh new voice. Original.




Now O'Clock


Book Description

NOW O' CLOCK By William Garcia "Life lasts but an instant" I thought I first heard these words in the 1973 blockbuster movie, "Enter the Dragon," .I left the theatre that night with the words "Life lasts but an instant seemingly on a perpetual loop in my mind. I pondered the meaning of those words for manths on end and at some point it dawned upon me what I now beleive those words mean. Now, I want to share my thoughts with you. There seems to be no time for 'now, ' when 'now' is all there is and all we have. We are too preoccupied with being modern and Modernity; we're are constantly distracted. This is because the insatiable beast, that is modernity, wields its powerful influences upon us. We seem to have surrendered our ability to choose for ourselves. We need to realize that the past, the present, and the future form a straight time line through life.On that line, there are three points that reflects our existence. The last point being Death, or as I describe it in this book; we simply run out of life. Life would seem short of you think in terms of numbers as opposed to thinking in terms of actually "Being" and "Doing" in the present positive tense. We need to reflect on our own humanity and the relationships we have with those we love. As obvious as it may seem, we only have 'now, ' this moment, this instant to be able to do something about anything. Life is an instantaneous expereince. However, this is not to suggest that we rush through life. Instead, it is to realize that we cannot travel faster than the speed of 'now'. We simply need to slow down. We need to return to the basics of life and rethink our reasons for doing the things we do, not merely on a daily basis, but during the continous 'now' as we live. The search for meaning in our lives, the hopes, the purpose and the passion, will start a new conversation in your head about your reason for living. We need to understand that 'time' is constant and perpetual and that life is variable and finite. There is no old 'time' or new 'time, ' no fast 'time' or slow 'time'. There is only 'time'; there is only 'now' and the always becoming of the brand new 'you'. What we do in 'time' is another matter. We have the free will to live as we choose. Why not reclaim our individual ability to choose on our own volition. We need to be proactive with respect to our pursuits in life, especially being there for someone else. So, it is very important to love those you love, now.. Love much, love often. The idea of tomorrow, and it is just an idea, is only the promise of an imaginary time to come.. 'Now' is as real as it gets. In the scheme of things, God has a place for us. Have a place for God in your life. It is vitally important to really try to slow down, if only for a couple of seconds at a time. It will change your life for the better and like me, and in your own way, only you can expereince what I am talking about and only you can describe it. Remember that there is nothing more powerful than the present moment. When I think about all there is to say or do 'now, ' I'm overwhelmed. Life does lasts but an instant.It is the most powerful and intriguing paradox. We live our entire lives in the span of an instant, yet, a lifetime is not enough time to tell it all or do it all. It's life. It's lifetime. It is Now O' Clock.




Clocks and More Clocks


Book Description

When the hall clock reads twenty minutes past four, the attic clock reads twenty-three minutes past four, the kitchen clock reads twenty-five minutes past four, and the bedroom clock reads twenty-six minutes past four, what should Mr. Higgins do? He can't tell which of his clocks tells the right time. He is in for a real surprise when the Clockmaker shows him that they are all correct!