Alarm (Object Lessons)

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Alarms are alarming. They’re objects that wake us up and force us to turn our attention to things we’ve preferred to ignore. But alarms are also the objects that allow us to feel secure, to sleep, and to retreat from alertness. They take over vigilance on our behalf. From the alarm clock and the air-raid siren to the doorbell and the phone alert, the history of alarms is also the history of work, security, technology, and emotion. Alarm responds to culture’s most urgent calls to attention by offering interpretations of all kinds of alarms, from restless presence of the alarm clock in modernist art to the siren – the sound of the police – in old-school hip hop. More than just bells and whistles, alarms are objects that have defined sleeping and waking, safety and danger, and have fundamentally shaped our understanding of the mind and its capacity for attention. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Alarms are alarming. They wake us up, demand our attention and force us to attend to things we've preferred to ignore. But alarms also allow us to feel secure, to sleep and to retreat from alertness. They take over vigilance on our behalf. From the alarm clock and the air-raid siren to the doorbell and the phone alert, the history of alarms is also the history of work, security, technology and emotion. Alarm responds to culture's most urgent calls to attention by examining all kinds of alarms, from the restless presence of the alarm clock in modernist art to the siren – the sound of the police – in classic hip hop. More than just bells and whistles, alarms are objects that have defined sleeping and waking, safety and danger, and they have fundamentally shaped our understanding of the mind and its capacity for attention. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic. Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Figures Introduction Chapter 1: Clock Chapter 2: Fire Chapter 3: Security Chapter 4: Siren Chapter 5: Failure, false, Fatigue Chapter 6: Future Image Credits Notes Index "A book that invites you to listen more closely to the beepers, bells, and buzzers that have shaped modern minds"-- Provided by publisher