author
Harry Chase Brearley
1870–1940
A lively early-20th-century writer with a knack for making technical and historical subjects approachable, this author is best remembered today for exploring how people have measured time across the centuries. His work blends clear explanation with a strong curiosity about invention, industry, and everyday life.
1 Audiobook
Time Telling through the Ages
by Harry Chase Brearley
About the author
Born in Detroit in 1870, Harry Chase Brearley built a varied career in journalism, business, and publishing. Records connected with his books describe him as a writer for the Detroit Evening News, later assistant business manager of the Detroit Journal, and also note later work in insurance and publishing-related roles.
He wrote on an unusually wide range of subjects. His best-known book for many modern readers is Time Telling through the Ages (1919), a readable history of clocks, watches, and earlier ways of measuring time. He also wrote A Symbol of Safety, on Underwriters Laboratories, and Fifty Years of a Civilizing Force, a study of the National Board of Fire Underwriters.
Brearley died in 1940. Although he is not a household name now, his books still appeal to readers who enjoy older nonfiction that explains complex subjects in a direct, curious, and accessible way.