In this engaging and spirited book, eminent social psychologist Robert Levine asks us to explore a dimension of our experience that we take for granted—our perception of time. When we travel to a different country, or even a different city in the United States, we assume that a certain amount of cultural adjustment will be required, whether it's getting used to new food or negotiating a foreign language, adapting to a different standard of living or another currency. In fact, what contributes most to our sense of disorientation is having to adapt to another culture's sense of time.Levine, who has devoted his career to studying time and the pace of life, takes us on an enchanting tour of time through the ages and around the world. As he recounts his unique experiences with humor and deep insight, we travel with him to Brazil, where to be three hours late is perfectly acceptable, and to Japan, where he finds a sense of the long-term that is unheard of in the West. We visit communities in the United States and find that population size affects the pace of life—and even the pace of walking. We travel back in time to ancient Greece to examine early clocks and sundials, then move forward through the centuries to the beginnings of ”clock time” during the Industrial Revolution. We learn that there are places in the world today where people still live according to ”nature time,” the rhythm of the sun and the seasons, and ”event time,” the structuring of time around happenings(when you want to make a late appointment in Burundi, you say, ”I'll see you when the cows come in”).Levine raises some fascinating questions. How do we use our time? Are we being ruled by the clock? What is this doing to our cities? To our relationships? To our own bodies and psyches? Are there decisions we have made without conscious choice? Alternative tempos we might prefer? Perhaps, Levine argues, our goal should be to try to live in a ”multitemporal” society, one in which we learn to move back and forth among nature time, event time, and clock time. In other words, each of us must chart our own geography of time. If we can do that, we will have achieved temporal prosperity.

Time-geography is a mode of thinking that helps in the understanding of change in society, the wider context and ecological consequences of human actions. This book presents its assumptions, concepts and methods, and example applications. The intellectual path of the Swedish geographer Torsten Hägerstrand is a key foundation for this book. His research contributions are shown in the context of the urbanization of Sweden, involvement in the emerging planning sector and empirical studies on Swedish emigration. Migration and innovation diffusion studies paved the way for prioritizing time and space dimensions and recognizing time and space as unity. From these insights time-geography grew. This book includes the ontological grounds and concepts as well as the specific notation system of time-geography – a visual language for interdisciplinary research and communication. Applications are divided into themes: urban and regional planning; transportation and communication; organization of production and work; everyday life, wellbeing and household division of labor; and ecological sustainability – time-geographic studies on resource use. This book looks at the outlook for this developing branch of research and the future application of time-geography to societal and academic contexts. Its interdisciplinary nature will be appealing to postgraduates and researchers who are interested in human geography, urban and regional planning and sociology.

Space-time analysis is a rapidly growing research frontier in geography, GIS, and GIScience. Advances in integrated GPS/GIS technologies, the availability of large datasets (over time and space), and increased capacity to manage, integrate, model and visualize complex data in (near) real time, offer the GIS and geography communities extraordinary opportunities to begin to integrate sophisticated space-time analysis and models in the study of complex environmental and social systems, from climate change to infectious disease transmission. This volume specifically focuses on research frontiers, comparative research, and research and application interactions in this field in the US and China, arguably the two most dynamic loci for this work today. The contributions to this book, by top researchers in China and the US, productively highlight the differences and similarities in approaches and directions for space-time analysis in the two countries. In light of the recent rapid progress in GIScience research on space-time integration in both countries, the book’s focus on research frontiers in these two countries will attract great interest in both countries and in other parts of the world as well as among related disciplines. In addition, the book also explores the impact of collaborative research and publications underway in this area between the US and China and will provide an overview of these collaborative efforts and programs. This book will not only be of interest to university-based GIS researchers and students, but also to those interested in this new area of research and applications like researchers and developers in business, internet mapping and GIS and location based services (LBS).

Time-geography is a mode of thinking that helps us understand change processes in society, the wider context and the ecological consequences of human actions. This book brings together international time-geographic research from a range of disciplines. Swedish geographer Torsten Hägerstrand is a key foundation for this book, and an introductory biography charts the influences that led to the formation of his theories. A central theme across time-geography research is recognizing time and space as unity. Contributions from the Netherlands, the USA, Japan, China, Norway and Sweden showcase the diverse palette of time-geography research. Chapters study societies adjusting to rapid urbanization, or investigate the need for structural changes in childcare organization. The book also delves into green transportation and the interplay between humans and nature in landscape transformation. Applicational chapters look at ICT effects on young people’s daily life and methods for engaging clients in treatment practice. This book situates the outlook for this developing branch of research and the application of time-geography to societal and academic contexts. Its interdisciplinary nature will appeal to postgraduates and researchers who are interested in human geography, urban and regional planning and sociology.

Drawing from decades of research, Genes,Climate, and Consumption Culture: Connecting the Dots demonstrates how climate dictates culture and consumption.