Author Description

"Time, it has been said, is the enemy. In an era of harried lives, time seems increasingly precious as hours and days telescope and our lives often seem to be flitting past. And yet, at other times, the minutes drag on, each tick of the clock excruciatingly drawn out. What accounts for this paradox?". "Based upon a full decade's empirical research, Michael G. Flaherty's A Watched Pot offers remarkable insights on this most universal human experience. Flaherty surveyed hundreds of individuals of all ages to ascertain how such phenomena as suffering, violence, danger, boredom, exhilaration, concentration, shock, and novelty influence our perception of time. Their stories make for intriguing reading, by turns familiar and exotic, mundane and dramatic, horrific and funny.". "A qualitative and quantitative tour de force, A Watched Pot presents what may well be the first fully integrated theory of time and will be of interest to scientists, humanists, social scientists, and the educated public alike."--BOOK JACKET.