ABSTRACT
Certainly time, which started out as an interaction between human societies and nature, has had an active history. The process has involved complex combinations of objective factors, like the movement of sun and moon, or the speed of steam-driven machinery, and human ideas and impulses. Changes in time have reflected significant expressions of religious belief, plus the calculations of scientists and mathematicians, plus the interests of the state and the ruling class, plus the needs of urban environments, plus, of course, the available capacities for time measurement. The uses of time have translated many larger forces into the basic structures of daily life – literally, for entire populations at some points. The varied history of time certainly shows how humans can adapt to an array of different timing systems, depending on the belief patterns and economic arrangements in play at any given point.
