J.T Fraser
Founder of the International Society for the Study of Time (1966), J.T. Fraser is the author of Of Time, Passion, and Knowledge (1975, 1990), Time as Conflict (1978), The Genesis and Evolution of Time (1982), Time the Familiar Stranger (1987, 1988), Time. Conflict, and Human Values (1999) and Time and Time Again (2007). He is also editor of The Voices of Time (1968, 1981) and of the ten volumes of The Study of Time series (1972—2000) and Founding Editor of KronoScope: Journal in the Study of Time. Dr. Fraser taught courses and conducted seminars in the study of time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, University of Maryland and Fordham University. Acknowledged to be the world’s foremost authority on the interdisciplinary, integrated study of time, he is the author of many articles in professional periodicals and has lectured extensively on different aspects of the study of time.
Fraser termed his philosophy “a hierarchical theory of time,” which he summarized succinctly this way: “Nature comprises a number of integrative levels which form a hierarchically nested and evolutionarily open system along a scale of increasing complexity. Processes characteristic of each of these levels function with different modes of causation and must be described in different languages. Each level determines a qualitatively different temporality, and each adds new, unresolvable conflicts to those of the level or levels beneath it” (Fraser 1999, 26).
BOOKS (AUTHORED)
Of Time. Passion, and Knowledge: Reflections on the Strategy of Existence, First edition, New York: Braziller, 1975. Second edition, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Time as Conflict: a Scientific and Humanistic Study, Basel and Boston: Birkhäuser, 1978.
The Genesis and Evolution of Time: a Critique of Interpretations in Physics, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982. Brighton, Sussex: The Harvester Press, 1982. Tokyo: Kodansha Scientific Ltd, 1984, (in Japanese).
Time the Familiar Stranger, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1987, an ebook at netLibrary.com
Richmond, WA: Tempus Books, 1988 (paperback). Stuart, FL: Triformation Braille Service, 1989 (Braille edition)
Die Zeit: Vertraut und Fremd, tr. of “Time, the Familiar Stranger Basel:Birkhäuser Verlag, 1988.
Second (paperback) edition, München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991.
Il Tempo: una Presenza Sconosciuta, tr. of “Time, the Familiar Stranger, “Milano: Feltrinelli, 1991.
Génesis y Evolucion del Tiempo, tr. of “The Genesis and Evolution of Time,”Truñea/Pamplona: Pamiela, 1995.
Time. Conflict, and Human Values, Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999.
Time and Time Again: Reports from a Boundary of the Universe, Leiden: Brill, 2007.
BOOKS (EDITED)
The Voices of Time: a Cooperative Survey of Man’s Views of Time as Expressed by the Sciences and the Humanities, New York: Braziller, 1966 and London, Allen Lane the Penguin Press, 1968. Second edition, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981.
The Study of Time I, New York: Springer Verlag, 1972, (with F. C. Haber and G. H.Müller).
The Study of Time II, New York: Springer Verlag, 1975, (with N. Lawrence).
The Study of Time III, New York: Springer Verlag, 1978, (with N. Lawrence and D. Park).
The Study of Time IV, New York: Springer Verlag, 1981, (with N. Lawrence and D. Park).
Time. Science, and Society in China and the West: The Study of Time V, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1986, (with N. Lawrence).
Time and Mind: Interdisciplinary Issues: The Study of Time VI, Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 1989.
Time and Process: The Study of Time VII, Madison, CT.: International Universities Press, 1992, (with Lewis Rowell).
Dimensions of Time and Life: The Study of Time VIII, Madison, CT.: International Universities Press, 1995, (with Marlene Soulsby).
Time. Order. Chaos: The Study of Time IX, Madison, CT.: Int’l Universities Press, 1998, (with Marlene Soulsby and Alexander Argyros).
Time at the Millennium: Changes and Continuities: The Study of Time X, Westport, CT.: Bergen & Garvey, 2000, (with Marlene Soulsby).
ARTICLES
Introduction, comments, connecting texts and conclusions, The Voices of Time, op.cit.
“The Interdisciplinary Study of Time,” Annals. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 138, Art.2. (1966), pp. 822-47, Reprinted in Arch. Int. d’Histoire des Sciences, (1966) and Studium Generale, 19, (1966) pp. 705-720.
“Time and the Paradox of Unexpected Truths,” XIV. Int. Kongress f. Philosophie, Akten, 4, (1968), pp. 395-402.
“Time as a Hierarchy of Creative Conflicts,” Studium Generale, 23, 1970, pp. 597-689.
“Reflections on Time, Science, and Man,” Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future, Chicago: The Encyclopedia Britannica, (1970), pp. 94-105.
“The Study of Time,” in The Study of Time I, op. cit., pp. 479-502.
“Flight Dysrhythmia,” ibid., pp. 503-5.
“Time in Western Philosophy, Natural Science and History,” Main Currents in Modern Thought, 28, (1972), pp. 115-30.
“Clock making: the Most General Trade,” in The Study of Time II, op.cit. pp. 339-55.
“Temporal Levels: Sociobiological Aspects of a Fundamental Synthesis,” in Social Biol. Structures., 1, (1978), pp. 339-355.
“The Individual and Society,” The Study of Time III, op.cit. pp. 419-42.
“Out of Plato’s Cave: The Natural History of Time,” The Kenyon Review, NS2, Winter, (1980), pp. 143-62.
“Wyjcie z Jaskini Platona: Naturalna Historia Czasu,” in Za Gadnienia Filozoficznew Nauca, II, (1980, pp. 18-20. In Polish.
“Temporal Levels and Reality Testing,” Int. J. Psycho-Anal. 62, (1981), pp. 3-26.
“Toward an Integrated Understanding of Time,” in The Voices of Time, 2nd ed. op. cit., pp. xx-xlix
“A Mosaic of Metaphors of Time and Images of Transience in the Literature of the West,” ibid., pp. li-lx.
“A Backward and a Forward Glance: the Uses and Problems of the Study of Time,” in The Study of Time IV op.cit, pp. xiii-xxii.
“A Report on the Literature of Time, 1900—1980,” in The Study of Time IV, op.cit. pp. 234-270.
“L’Histoire Naturelle du Temps: au-dela de la caverne de Platon,” Temps Libre 7. (1983), pp. 5-21. In French.
“Revolution in Time,” an essay review in Foundations of Physics, 14, (1984), pp. 799-804.
“The Art of the Audible ‘Now”’ in Music Theory Spectrum, 1, (1985), pp. 181-4.
“The Problems of Exporting Faust,” in Time. Science and Society in China and the West, op.cit. pp. 1-20.
“Temporal Levels and reality Testing,” reprinted in Teorie & Modelli, (Bologna), 2, (1985), suppl. 1, pp. 49-88.
“Temporal Levels in the Social Process: the Integration of Temporalities in Social Modelling,” Time. Cultures, and Development, C. A. Mallmann and Oscar Nudler, eds. Bariloche (Argentina): Fundacion Bariloche, 1986, pp. 145-85.
“Saliendo de la caverna de Platon: la historia natural del tiempo,” tr. Ramon Ramos, Revista de Occidente, No.76, (Septiembre 1987), pp. 5-34.
“Time: Removing the Degeneracies”, in Fantasy. Myth, and Reality, H. P. Blum et al. eds, Madison, Connecticut: International Universities Press, Inc., 1988 pp. 467-85.
“Wyjcie z Jaskini Platona: Naturalna Historia Czasu,” reprinted in Filozofowac w Kontekscie Nauki, M. Heller et al, eds. Krakow: Polskie Iowarazystwo Teologiczne, 1987, pp. 125-39.
“Contemplating Nanoseconds,” preface to Tempus edition, Time, the Familiar Stranger, op.cit. pp. xiii-xvi.
“Von Zukunft, Vergangenheit, und Gegenwart,” foreword to Die Zeit: Vertraut und Fremd, op.cit. pp. 11-16.
“Homer, Borges, and Time” foreword to the Braille edition of Time, the Familiar Stranger, op.cit.
“Clocks Beyond Themselves,” introductory essay to the catalog of the Clockwork exhibit at MIT’s List Visual Art Center, 1989.
“Von der der Suche nach Zeitlosigkeit, in Im Net der Zeit, Rudolf Wendorff, ed. Stuttgart: Hirzel, 1989, pp. 61-67.
“The many Dimensions of Time and Mind: An Epistemic Jigsaw Puzzle Game,” in Time and Mind, op.cit. pp. 1-14.
“The Elusiveness of the Mind,” ibid. pp. 305-6.
“The Arguments of Time” Foreword to the 2nd edition of Of Time, Passion, and Knowledge, op.cit. pp. xv—xix.
“Between two Pietàs” Foreword to Il Tempo: una Presenza Sconosciuta, op. cit.
“The Time-Compact Globe and the Cranes of Ibycus” Foreword to the paperback edition of Die Zeit… op.cit. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991.
“Pioneers Can Have No Maps” Guest editorial, Time and Society, (London), 1(1), 1992, pp. 1-3.
“Change, Permanence, and Human Values,” in Time and Process, op. cit. 1992.
‘Human Temporality in a Nowless Universe,” in Time & Society, 1(2), 1992, pp. 159-73.
‘Homer, Borges, and Time,” Foreword to Tiempo. Pasion y Conocimiento, Pamplona: Pamiela, 1993.
“Calendar (Western),” “Hierarchical Theory of Time,” “Interdisciplinary Studies” and “International Society for the Study of Time.” Articles in S. L. Macey, ed. Encyclopedia of Time, New York: Garland, 1993.
“El muro de cristal. Ideas representativas sobre il tiempo en el pensamiento occidental.” In Archipielago 10-11, 1992, pp. 17—54.
“An Embarrassment of Proper Times,” foreword to Helga Nowotny’s Time: the Modern and Postmodern Experience. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994.
“Time, Infinity, and the World in Enlightenment Thought,” in Time, Literature and the Arts: Essays in Honor of Samuel L. Macey. T. R. Cleary, ed. Victoria, B.C. University of Victoria, 1994. pp. 192—211.
“Truth as a Recognition of Permanence: an Interdisciplinary Critique,” in Zeit und Wahrheit. Heinrich Pfusterschmid-Hardtenstein, ed. Vienna: Ibera Verlag, 1995, pp. 120-31 Ibera Verlag, 1995. pp. 120—131.
“Time and the Origin of Life,” in Dimensions of Time and Life, op.cit., 1995, pp. 3-17.
“From Chaos to Conflict,” in Time, Order, Chaos, op.cit., 1997, pp. 3-19.
“Faust on the Road,” in Bulletin, Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule, Zurich, January 1999, pp. 6-9.
“Time and Human Values – A Contemporary View,” in Werte in 21. Jahrhundert – Wer Bestimmt die Richtung? Walter Schweidler, ed. Nomos Verlag, 2000. In preparation.
“Time and the Emergent Identity of Mankind,” in Time & Society, 9(2/3), 2000, pp. 89-98.
“Zeit und meschliche Werte — eine zeitgemässe Sight,” in Zwischen Anfang und Ende, Hermann Fechtrup et al. eds. Münster: Lit Verlag, 2000. pp. 43-70.
“Hamlet’s Castle in Cyberspace,” in Time at the Millennium, op.cit. pp. 1-16.
“Fausta gaita,” translation into Latvian of “Faust on the Road,” in Kentaurs XXI, No.22. August 2000, pp. 63-70.
“The Extended Umwelt Principle: von Uexkull and the Nature of Time.” In “Jakob von Uexkull: a Paradigm for Biology and Semiotics”, Semiotica, (134-1/4, 2001), pp. 263-74.
“KronoScope: An Invitation.” KronoScope, v.1 No. 1-2 (2001) pp. 7-13.
“In Memoriam: Michael Young.” In KronoScope Vol 2., No. 1 (2002) pp. 5-7.
“The Mother Lode of Cultures: Ethics and Aesthetics,” in The Structurist, No. 40/41 pp. 18-23. 2001-2002. Saskatoon: The Univesity of Saskatchewan Press.
“Human Freedom,” in KronoScope, Vol. 2, No. 2, (2002), pp. 223-45.
“Time Felt, Time Understood,” KronoScope, v. 3. No., 1. (2003) pp. 15-26
“On ye sholders of Giants,” introduction to the reissue of G.J. Whitrow’s What is Time? Oxford University Press. pp. ix-xiii
With M. P. Soulsby, “The Literature of Time,” ibid. pp. 142-160.
“The Secular Mystery of the First Day.” In Walter Schweidler ed. Zeit: Anfang und Ende, Sankt Augustin: Academia Verlag, 2004. pp.431-445.
“Mathematics and Time,” in KronoScope Vol. 3. No 2 (2003) pp. 153-67. Also in Paul A. Harris and Michael Crawford, eds. Time and Uncertainty, The Study of Time XI, Leiden: Brill, 2004, pp. 5-18.
“Reflections upon an Evolving Mirror,” in KronoScope, Vol.4 No.2 (2004) pp. 201-223.
“Space-time in the Study of Time: An Exercise in Critical Interdisciplinarity.” In KronoScope, Vol.5, No. 2 (2005) pp. 151-75.
“The Integrated Study of Time – A Call for Reciprocal Literacy,” in KronoScope, Vol. 6 No 2 (2006), pp. 249-254.
“Constraining Chaos,” in KronoScope, Vol. 7 No 2 (2007), pp. 121-135.
“The Voices of Time,” in KronoScope, Vol. 8 No 1 (2008), pp. 105-117.
“Constraining Chaos,” in Jo Alyson Parker, Paul Harris, and Christian Steineck, eds. Limits and Constraints – The Study of Time XIII, Leiden: Brill, 2008, pp. 118-133.
“The Voices of Time, ” KronoScope 8-1, 2008, pp. 105-117.
Since 1980, over fifty book reviews.
LIST OF INVITED LECTURES, 1969-
“The Study of Time,” International Society for the Study of Time, First Conference, September, 1969.
“Clockmaking – The Most General Trade,” International Society for the Study of Time, Second Conference, July, 1973.
“The Hierarchical Structure of Time and its Implications for Physics,” Williams College, Physics Department, lecture and seminar, April, 1975.
“Time and the Freedom of the Beautiful in Art,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October, 1975.
“Science, Truth, and Personality,” University of Kentucky, Department of Sociology, lecture and seminar, February, 1976.
“Time, Mind, and the Self, ” Kenyon College, Integrated Program in Humane Studies, February, 1976.
“Comments on an Evolutionary Epistemology,” University of Pennsylvania, Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, April, 1976.
“The Individual and Society,” International Society for the Study of Time, Third Conference, July, 1976.
“Time and the Origin of Life,” Williams College, Philosophy Department, lecture and seminar, October, 1976.
“The Roots of Time in the Physical World,” Michigan State University, Physics Department, February, 1977.
“Time and the Brain-Mind Problem,” Michigan State University, Psychology Department, lecture and seminar, February, 1977.
“Time and the Ecstasy of the Dance,” Yale University Medical School and School of Music, joint seminar on rhythm, May, 1977.
“Aspects of Time, Infinity, and the World in Enlightenment Thought,” University of Victoria, Meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, May, 1977.
“Time’s Rites of Passage: from Individual to Society,” Syracuse University, Maxwell Policy Center on Aging, Conference on the Uses of Time in Social Scientific Research and Theory, November, 1977.
“Two Arrows for the Price of One: a Critique of the Thermodynamic Arrow of Time,” Williams College, Physics Department, lecture and seminar, December, 1977.
“Time and the Dream,” discussion of a paper. Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association, New York, December, 1978.
“The Paradigmatic Levels of Time in Music,” M.I.T. Seminar on the Structure of Musical Time, April, 1979.
“A Backward and a Forward Glance: the Uses and Problems of the Study of Time,” International Society for the Study of Time, Fourth Conference, July, 1979.
“Out of Plato’s Cave: the Natural Philosophy of Time,” University of Connecticut, “Perspectives on the Nature of Time” series, lecture and seminar, September, 1979.
“The Natural History of Time,” Williams College, Philosophy Department, lecture and seminar, November, 1979.
“The Measurement of Time: Modes of Hypothesis Testing,” Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceaux Castle, Hailsham, England, July, 1980.
“Toward an Integrated Understanding of Time,” Fundacion Bariloche, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, Conference on “Time, Quality of Life, and Social Development,” October, 1980.
“The Times and Voices of People, Birds, and Stones,” Indiana University, Folklore Department. Opening lecture of the series “African Dimensions of Time,” January, 1981.
“The Principle of Temporal Levels: a Framework for the Dialogue,” The Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio Study and Conference Center. Opening lecture of the workshop on “Scientific Ideas of Time in Humanistic and Social Perspectives,” July, 1981.
“The Problems of Exporting Faust,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Fifth Conference, July, 1983.
“Time’s Rites of Passage,” Montana State University, lecture and seminar, September, 1983.
“Background to Time and Management at the Anthill Threshold,” University of Missouri, Department of Management, Workshop, May, 1986.
“On Interdisciplinary Reality Testing: the Many Dimensions of Time and Mind,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Sixth Conference, July, 1986.
“The Obvious and Unobvious Properties of Time in Physics,” University of Massachusetts, Physics and Astronomy Colloquium, March, 1988.
“Time Felt and Time Understood: the Permanent Conflict,” Hamilton College, Department of English, Conference on Time Change, March, 1989.
“Change, Permanence, and Human Values,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Seventh Conference, July, 1989.
“Clocks as Visual Metaphors,” Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Interdisciplinary Conference on Time and Space, Opening Lecture, May, 1990.
“The Interdisciplinary Study of Time,” Yearly Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Swansea, August, 1990.
“Expectation and Memory in a Nowles Universe,” Conference on “Memory, Story, and History,” The Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, Santa Barbara, CA February, 1992.
“Feeling and Time in Art, Music, and Literature,” Department of Germanic, Oriental and Slavic Languages, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA February, 1992.
“The Past, Present, and Future of the Future, Past, and Present,” Department of Sociology, Univ. of California, La Jolla, CA February, 1992.
“Time and the Origin of Life,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Eighth Conference, July, 1992.
“The Structure of the ‘Now’ and the Power of Music,” William W. Sears Distinguished Lecture, Conference of the National Association for Music Therapy, November, 1992.
“The Time-Compact Globe,” lecture and seminar, Oregon Humanities Center, University of Oregon, Eugene OR May, 1993.
“The Evolution of Complexity: Perspectives from the Study of Time,” Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco, CA February, 1994.
“Truth as a Recognition of Permanence: an Interdisciplinary Critique,” 50th Conference of the Alpbach European Forum. Theme: “Time and Truth.” August, 1994.
“From Chaos to Conflict,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Ninth Conference, July, 1995.
“Life, Death, and Ecology: the Significance of the Interdisciplinary Study of Time,” Conference on “The Ecology of Time,” Evangelische Akademie, Tutzing, Germany, May, 1996.
“Hamlet’s Castle in Cyberspace,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Tenth Conference, July, 1998.
“Time and Human Values: a Contemporary View,” Symposium, “Between the Beginning and the Ending: Reflections upon Time, Hope and History,” Pieper Stiftung, Münster, Germany, May, 1999.
“If You can’t Beat Them, Join Them: the Hierarchical Theory of Time,” Lecture and Seminar at the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Texas at Dallas, October, 1999.
“Time and the Emergent Identity of Mankind,” Lecture, Conference on “Time and Globalization,” Paris, November, 1999.
“Beyond Two Pietàs: Reflections on Art and Time.” Symposium on “Investigating Time: Ancient to Modern,” The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, October, 2000.
“Mathematics and Time,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Eleventh Conference, Castello di Gargonza, Monte San Savino, Italy, July, 2001.
“Time Felt and Time Understood: A Guide for the Perplexed,” Opening lecture of a series sponsored by the Penn Humanities Forum and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September, 2001.
“Clocks Beyond Themselves,” talk at the meeting of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, New England Chapter, Andover, Maine, November, 2001.
“Chaos and Conflict: Demystifying Chaos Theory,” lecture at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, February, 2002
“The Secular Mystery of the First Day,” Lecture at Tagungshaus Weingarten, Germany. Conference on “Time: its Beginning and Ending.” September, 2002.
“Galileo, Dancing, and the Study of Time,” Seminar at the Psychology Department, University of Leiden, Holland, October, 2002.
“Reflections upon an Evolving Mirror,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Twelfth Conference, Clare College, Cambridge, England, July 2004.
“Constraining Chaos,” Founder’s Lecture, International Society for the Study of Time, Thirteenth Conference, Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey, CA, USA, July 2007.
“Perspective upon the 1966 birth of your older sister” and “Whose past is our prologue?” Lectures at the first conference of the Asssociacion Interamericana de Estudios sobre el Tiempo, held at the Centro de Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias en Ciencias y Humanidades in Mexico City, November 10-14 2008.
CONFERENCES ORGANIZED AND CONDUCTED
1966 Founded the International Society for the Study of Time (ISST)
1969 First Conference of ISST at the German Mathematical Research Institute, Oberwolfach, West Germany
1973 Second Conference of ISST, Lake Yamanaka, Japan
1976 Third Conference of ISST, Alpbach, Austria
1979 Fourth Conference of ISST, Alpbach, Austria
1981 Workshop on ‘Scientific Concepts of Time in Humanistic and Social Perspectives, ” Bellagio Study and Conference Center of the Rockefeller Foundation, Lake Como, Italy
1983 Fifth Conference of ISST, Castello di Gargonza, Monte San Savino, Italy. Theme: “Time, Science and Society in China and the West”
1986 Sixth Conference of ISST, Dartington Hall College, Totnes, Devon, England. Theme: “Time and Mind
1989 Seventh Conference of ISST, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Theme: “Time and Process”
1992 Eighth Conference of ISST, Centre Culturel International de Cerisy -la-Salle, Normandy, France. Theme: “Time and Life: Contributions from Science, the Humanities, and the Arts.”
1995 Ninth Conference of ISST, Sainte—Adèle (Québec), Canada.Theme: “Time, Order, Chaos.”
1998 Tenth Conference of ISST, Evangelische Akademie, Tutzing, Germany. Theme: “Time at the Millennium: Changes and Continuities.”
2001 Eleventh Conference of ISST. Castello di Gargonza, Monte San Savino, Italy. Theme: “Time and Uncertainty.”
PATENTS
U.S.Patent Number Name
2,844,724 Microwave Frequency Modulation Transducer [July 22, 1958]
2,848,688 Microwave Switching Circuit [August 19, 1958]
2,870,389 Machine Programming Control [January 20, 1959]
2,967,280 Rotatable Waveguide Joint [January 3, 1961]
2,994,787 Frequency Tracker [August 1, 1961]
3,103,620 Direction Sensor [September 10, 1963]
3,103,621 Optically Pumped Magnetic Resonance Gyroscope and Direction Sensor
[September 10, 1963]