ABSTRACT
In Europe the production of clocks and other artefacts was supported by growing demand, and the new products on offer were quickly taken up. But in Turkey and China the arrival of timepiece technology did not lead to the start of a local clock-making industry: having precise techniques for measuring time was evidently not a priority for them at that juncture. Some works of art, deemed a part of world heritage, such as Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Picasso's Guernica or the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin, are carefully preserved in public museums because they are a symbol of the artistic excellence achieved in a certain period. If these works were privately owned, they would no longer be accessible to the public. As with all the phenomena that have arisen over the centuries, the anthropocene was anticipated by thinkers and writers, aware of the environmental consequences of industrial processes.
