6 Quotes by David S. Landes

The invention of the mechanical clock was one of a number of major advances that turned Europe from a weak, peripheral, highly vulnerable outpost of Mediterranean civilization into a hegemonic aggressor.

... the invention of the mechanical clock in medieval Europe. This was one of the great inventions in this history of mankind -- not in a class with fire and the wheel, but comparable to movable type in its revolutionary implications for cultural values, technological change, social and political organization, and personality.

As for me, I prefer truth to goodthink. I feel surer on my ground.

... if one is to rely on human judges, it is very important that they never admit to error.

Indications, of course, are not enough. Knowledge of the time must be combined with obedience -- what social scientists like to call time discipline. The indications are in effect commands, for responsiveness to these cues is imprinted on us and we ignore them at our peril.

Most people operate within a margin of plus or minus several minutes.