There were a couple of points that I found particularly interesting in the excerpts of Cartographies of Time. I was curious about the point during the 19th century where chronography and the linear timeline were becoming more solidified alongside the simultaneous development of new imaging technologies. Film is of particular interest here, and I think one could ask “chicken and the egg” kinds of questions with these early timelines. There are a few material qualities of film that I think could be relevant when considering timelines. First, and perhaps most importantly, I think the new ability to look at frozen moments of time not just individually but as but separated fragments in a sequence could enforce the positivist tendencies towards linear thinking about time. Relatedly, I wonder if the ability to be able to play film recordings backward had any effect on considering time as linear. Rosenberg and Grafton only mention this point briefly, but I am curious if there is any written evidence of the influence of film on the concretization of timelines, or alternatively, of visual timelines influencing the creation of film.

I also found myself fascinated by Olaf Stapleton’s timeline in First and Last Men. Was this the first use of a historical timeline projecting into the future, even if a fantastical and speculative one? Could one trace a history of the correlation between linear timelines and equally linear projections of human progress?