Time: From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics
From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics
2nd Edition
Published on 18. October 2018
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-1-107-19728-2 (ISBN)
Description
In the twenty-first century, we take the means to measure time for granted, without contemplating the sophisticated concepts on which our time scales are based. This volume presents the evolution of concepts of time and methods of time keeping up to the present day. It outlines the progression of time based on sundials, water clocks, and the Earth's rotation, to time measurement using pendulum clocks, quartz crystal clocks, and atomic frequency standards. Time scales created as a result of these improvements in technology and the development of general and special relativity are explained. This second edition has been updated throughout to describe twentieth- and twenty-first-century advances and discusses the redefinition of SI units and the future of UTC. A new chapter on time and cosmology has been added. This broad-ranging reference benefits a diverse readership, including historians, scientists, engineers, educators, and it is accessible to general readers.
Reviews / Votes
'Why do we add 1 second to our clocks at midnight at the end of some years, or at the end of June in others? Why don't we subtract 1 second sometimes instead? ... You will find the answers to these and many more questions in this excellent book, written by two experts who worked on the practical aspects of these topics at the US Naval Observatory ... The second edition brings these subjects right up to date, and investigates the possible future developments in timekeeping.' L. V. Morrison, The ObservatoryMore details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
874 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-19728-2 (9781107197282)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Dennis D. McCarthy
Time: From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics
E-Book
10/2018
Cambridge University Press
€58.99
Available for download
Dennis D. McCarthy | P. Kenneth Seidelmann
Time: From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics
E-Book
09/2018
2nd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€70.99
Available for download
Persons
Dennis D. McCarthy is a former Director of Time at the United States Naval Observatory, the leading authority in the US for astronomical and timing data. He has led and been a member of various Commissions and Working Groups within the International Astronomical Union and has authored and edited numerous publications dealing with fundamental astronomy, time, and Earth orientation. P. Kenneth Seidelmann is a research professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia and is a former Director of Astrometry at the US Naval Observatory. He has led and been a member of a Division, various Commissions, and Working Groups of the International Astronomical Union, has co-authored two other books: Fundamentals of Astrometry (Cambridge, 2004) and Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics (2016), and is co-editor of the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac (2012).
Content
Preface; 1. Time: pre-twentieth century; 2. Solar time; 3. Ephemerides; 4. Variable Earth rotation; 5. Earth orientation; 6. Ephemeris time; 7. Relativity and time; 8. Time and cosmology; 9. Dynamical and coordinate time scales; 10. Clock developments; 11. Microwave atomic clocks; 12. Optical atomic standards; 13. Definition and role of a second; 14. International Atomic Time (TAI); 15. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); 16. Time in the solar system; 17. Time and frequency transfer; 18. Modern Earth orientation; 19. International activities; 20. Time applications; 21. Future of time keeping; Acronyms; Glossary.