Today, we can measure and share time with incredible precision. But do we know it in all its facets? Do we realize that the seemingly perfect recent solutions that underpin our ultra-miniaturized world lead to often strategic but largely unknown new challenges? In this book, Gérard Berry presents a totally novel vision of time. In particular, he shows how essential the control of time is in our society, while also illustrating its dangers, especially in fields as varied as industry, telecommunications, music, and even computing--a subject never before discussed. Berry brings to this fascinating story more than his expertise: he also adds humor and a love of words. He tackles the flowery expressions of ordinary speech involving time with virtuoso drollery; he shows the beauty and frequent strangeness of the stages in the history of time. What's more, in the style of a fanciful sci-fi novel, he imagines new technologies that will enable us to skillfully manipulate time--a dream as old as mankind.