From Sundials to Atomic Clocks
Subtitle: Understanding Time and Frequency
By: James Jespersen and Jane Fitz-Randolph.
Contributors: Fitz-Randolph, Jane.
Edition: 2nd rev. ed.
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Mineola, NY
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 345
Subjects: Time.; Time measurements.; Clocks and watches.
Description: It's present everywhere but occupies no space. We can spend it, but we can't destroy it or even change it, and there's never any more or less of it. Everyone knows what it is and uses it every day, but no one has been able to define it.
It's time, of course, an elusive concept that has helped unravel some of nature's greatest mysteries, yet remains a mystery itself. This volume, newly revised and updated, offers an unusually clear and accessible introduction to time — its measurement, historic methods of timekeeping, the uses of time information, and the role of time in science and technology. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of time, natural clocks, the relation of time and frequency, and the role of time in navigation, the authors then proceed to a fascinating treatment of man-made clocks and watches — from the sundials and waterclocks of ancient Egypt to today's amazingly precise atomic clocks — accurate to within one second every 370,000 years!
Subsequent chapters offer detailed, yet accessible explanations of the continuing search for more uniform time; the application of time to energy, communication, and transportation; and the role of the world's official timekeepers. Finally, the authors look at time in the context of theoretical science and technology, showing how time has long been a crucial element in theories of the fundamental laws of nature and in astronomy, while improvements in the measurement of time have fostered major developments in the realm of physics. More than 300 drawings and cartoons enliven the pages of this fascinating, coherent, and comprehensive treatment of the age-old enigma of time.
Notes: Originally published: 1999 ed. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1999, in series: NIST monograph ; 155.
Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword; label: I.
title: THE RIDDLE OF TIME; label: 1.
title: The Riddle of Time; title: The Nature of Time / What is Time? / Date, Time Interval, annd Synchronization / Ancient Clock Watchers / Clocks in Nature / Keeping Track of the Sun and Moon / Thinking Big and Thinking Small - An Aside on Numbers; label: 2.
title: Everything Swings; title: Getting Time from Frequency / What is a Clock? / The Earth-Sun Clock / Meter-Sticks to Measure Time / What is a Standard? / How Time Tells Us Where in the World We Are / Building a Clock that Wouldn't Get Seasick; label: II.
title: MAN-MADE CLOCKS AND WATCHES; label: 3.
title: Early Man-Made Clocks; title: Sand and Water Clocks / Mechanical Clocks / The Pendulum Clock / The Balance-Wheel Clock / Further Refinements / The Search for Even Better Clocks; label: 4.
title: "Q" is for Quality; title: The Resonance Curve / The Resonance Curve and Decay Time / Accuracy, Stability, and Q / High Q and Accuracy / High Q and Stability / Waiting to Find the Time / Pushing Q to the Limit / More about Q - An Aside; label: 5.
title: Building Even Better Clocks; title: The Quartz Clock / Atomic Clocks / The Ammonia Resonator / The Cesium Resonator / One Second in 370,000 Years / Atomic Definition of the Second / The Rubidium Resonator / The Hydrogen Maser / Can We Always Build a Better Clock; label: 6.
title: The "Correct" Time for the Man in the Street; title: Modern Mechanical Watches / Electric and Electronic Watches / The Quartz-Crystal Watch / How Much Does "The Time" Cost?; label: III.
title: FINDING AND KEEPING THE TIME; label: 7.
title: Time Scales; title: The Calendar / The Solar Day / The Stellar or Sidereal Day / Earth Rotation / The Continuing Search for More Uniform Time: Ephemeris Time / How Long is a Second? / "Rubber" Seconds / The New UTC System and the Leap Second / The Length of the Year / The Keepers of Time / U.S. Timekeepers / The Bureau International de l'Heure; label: 8.
title: The Clock Behind the Clock; title: Flying Clocks / Time on a Radio Beam / Accuracy / Coverage / Reliability / Other Considerations / Other Radio Schemes; label: 9.
title: The Time Signal on its Way; title: Choosing a Frequency / Very Low Frequencies / Low Frequencies / Medium Frequencies / High Frequencies / Very High Frequencies / Frequencies above 300 MHz / Noise - Additive and Multiplicative / Three Types of Time Signals; label: IV.
title: USES OF TIME; label: 10.
title: Standard Time; title: Standard Time Zones and Daylight-Sayings Time / Time as a Standard / Is a Second Really a Second? / Who Cares about the Time?; label: 11.
title: Time, The Great Organizer; title: Electric Power / Modern Communication Systems / Transportation / Navigation by Radio Beacons / Navigation by Satellite / Some Common and Some Far-out Uses of Time and Frequency Technology; label: V.
title: TIME, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY; label: 12.
title: Time and Mathematics; title: Taking Apart and Putting Together / Slicing up the Past and the Future - Calculus / Conditions and Rules / Getting at the Truth with Differential Calculus / Newton's Law of Gravitation / What's Inside the Differentiating Machine? - An Aside; label: 13.
title: Time and Physics; title: Time is Relative / Time Has Direction / Time Measurement is Limited / Atomic and Gravitational Clocks / The Struggle to Preserve Symmetry / The Direction of Time and Time Symmetries - An Aside; label: 14.
title: Time and Astronomy; title: Measuring the Age of the Universe / The Expanding Universe / Time Equals Distance / Big Bang or Steady State? / Stellar Clocks / White Dwarfs / Neutron Stars / Black Holes / Time Comes to a Stop / Time, Distance, and Radio Stars; label: 15.
title: Clockwork and Feedback; title: Open-Loop Systems / Closed-Loop Systems / The Response Time / System Magnification or Gain / Recognizing the Signal / Fourier's "Tinker Toys" / Finding the Signal / Choosing Control System; label: 16.
title: Time as Information; title: Three Kinds of Time Information Revisited / Geological Time / Interchanging Time and Location Information / Time as Stored Information / The Quality of Time and Frequency Information; label: 17.
title: The Future of Time; title: Using Time to Increase Space / Time and Frequency Information - Wholesale and Retail / Time Dissemination / Clocks in the Future / The Atom's Inner Metronome / Time Scales of the Future / The Question of Labeling - A Second is a Second is a Second / Time Through the Ages / What is Time, Really? / Particles Faster than Light - An Aside