osprey_archer on Clockwork

osprey_archer reviews the book Clockwork here , and it's a terrific, thoughtful entry, even if, like me, you haven't read the book in question. I love her contrasting of clockwork and steam power:

Clockwork is not propelled by electricity or steam but seems to go of itself. It is the technology of fairy tales ... Steam seems to conquer time and chance, to bend nature to our will; clockwork only counts, remorselessly, and reminds us that time and chance happen to us all.

(Visit her entry to comme...