In "The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks," published in 1947, writer Robertson Davies put forth this critique of DST: "I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it."

Sources: www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving; "Man & Time," by J.B. Priestly (Crescent Books); "The Handy Science Answer Book," compiled by the science and technology department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; "Calendar," by David Ewing Duncan (Avon Books).

A timeline of time

A few of the important dates in the history of time:

3500 B.C. A stick pushed in the ground and called a gnomon was the first primitive way of measuring time by the length of a shadow.

1500 B.C. The oldest sundials discovered (in Egypt) date from about this time.

738 B.C. King Romulus of Rome instituted a calendar with 10 months to the year. Two additional months were added in 713 B.C.

160 B.C. The Romans divided the day into five marked periods.

860 A.D. Candle lantern "clocks" were used by Anglo-Saxon King Alfred of Wessex in England. The Saxons later divided the day into periods called "tides." Each was equal to about three of our hours.

900 A.D. Sand began to replace water in time-measuring devices. Hence, the hourglass.

977 A.D. In China, Chang Ssu-Hsun constructed what was probably the first astronomical water clock.

1300 A.D. The first clock to strike hours was erected in Milan, Italy. The oldest surviving striking clock, built around 1305, is in Salisbury Cathedral in England.

1520 A.D. Clocks with the capability of showing minutes and seconds were built.

1752 A.D. Great Britain (and its American colonies) adopted the Gregorian calendar.

1783 A.D. The first watch-manufacturing firm, Vacheron & Constantin, was founded in Switzerland.

1843 A.D. The first electric pendulum clock was invented by Alexander Bain.

1883 A.D. U.S. time zones were established.