How did a time-keeping device affect the growth of crafts guilds and the scientific research that led to the Industrial Revolution in Europe? Why were Chinese Mandarins enchanted by the intricate workings of clocks but uninterested in their time-keeping function? While European life quickly became regulated by the ticking of town clocks, Asia retained its seasonal cycles of time and initially resisted the idea of living life by the clock. Clocks and Culture is a brief history of the changes wrought by and on Europe and Asia over four hundred years due to technological advances in time-keeping and the rise of a clock-centered culture.