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September 14, 2004
The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility
| Title | The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility |  |
| Author | Stewart Brand | |
| Publisher | Phoenix, London | |
| Date | ||
| ISBN | 0 75381 012 3 | |
| Reviewed by | Jane Szita | |
| Why would Danny Hillis, the creator of the world's fastest computer, turn his attention to designing what will be the world's slowest computer? The short answer is because the computer will be a gigantic, mechanical 10,000-year clock, built inside an American desert mountain. The Clock of the Long Now is intended to correct our short-sightedness where time is concerned: because we are slaves to the present, dominated by the short-term perspective of market economics and a cultural obsession with instant gratification, we are neglecting our responsibility to the future. This book describes the origin of the project, the development of the prototype design by Hillis and ideas for a '10,000-year library' to accompany the clock. But it is also a philosophical treatise on the nature of time itself, and our perceptions of it. | ||
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Posted by Books Editor at September 14, 2004 09:33 PM