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Synopsis
The history of precision technology may seem a small, specialized subject, concerned with the development of such mundane, even banal objects as sun-dials, sand-glasses, clocks or rulers and other measuring instruments. Yet their development, as the author holds, has helped to condition how we relate to the natural world and is therefore a key aspect of cultural history. For many classes of instruments there are still no basic narrative accounts of their internal evolution, and a number of these studies represent an effort towards fulfilling that need. In others, starting with an object, or an object and its maker, the author asks "What did it do?", and then "Who wanted it to do it and why?", penetrating into more general social context. In time the studies range from Antiquity to the 19th century, but the emphasis is on the period from the 16th century onwards.
