An experiment: take a second, clear your mind and see how long you can go without thinking about time – ha! Okay, that wasn’t fair, but the truth is, you can’t escape it. From the moment we understand the concept of time, to the day we die, we’re obsessed with it. Just think about your last vacation, good or bad, did one week feel like two? Did it seem too short? Even on our down-time we map our past, present or future trajectory in some form or another.

A new book “Cartographies of Time,” by Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton takes a look at the various ways we’ve diagrammed, or graphed time throughout history. Essentially, it’s a timeline of timelines, showcasing wondrous illustrations and antiquated tools to more modern methods of chronology.