A brief history of timekeeping the science of marking time, from Stonehenge to Atomic Clocks

Our modern lives are ruled by clocks and watches, smartphone apps and calendar programs. While our gadgets may be new, however, the drive to measure and master time is anything but--and in A Brief History of Timekeeping, Chad Orzel traces the path from Stonehenge to your smartphone. Predating writte...

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Main Author: Orzel, Chad (Author)
Format: Books Print Book
Language: English
Published: Dallas, TX : BenBella Books, Inc., [2022]
Subjects:
Summary: Our modern lives are ruled by clocks and watches, smartphone apps and calendar programs. While our gadgets may be new, however, the drive to measure and master time is anything but--and in A Brief History of Timekeeping, Chad Orzel traces the path from Stonehenge to your smartphone. Predating written language and marching on through human history, the desire for ever-better timekeeping has spurred technological innovation and sparked theories that radically reshaped our understanding of the universe and our place in it. For those interested in science, technology, or history, or anyone who's ever wondered about the instruments that divide our days into moments: the time you spend reading this book may fly, and it is certain to be well spent.
Physical Description: 324 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 9781953295606
1953295606
Author Notes: Chad Orzel is a physicist, professor, and blogger, and the author of three previous books How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog , How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog, and Eureka: Discovering Your Inner Scientist . He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College in Schenectady, NY, where he has been on the faculty since 2001. Orzel has been blogging about physics and academia for Forbes and Scienceblogs.com since 2002. He is earned a BA in physics from Williams College and a PhD in chemical physics from the University of Maryland, College Park. At that time, he completed his thesis research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology with Bill Phillips (Nobel Laureate in 1997), and he was a post-doc at Yale before starting at Union, studying the quantum physics of ultra-cold atoms.