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Article: Science: Ahead of the times So accurate are atomic clocks, they keep better time than the planets. Dan Falk reports on the leap second that will align the two this New Year
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- December 27, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1998 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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TIME, IT HAS been said, is nature's way of keeping everything from
happening at once. That may sound like a frivolous definition, but
it's about the best we can do. Time, like space, is a fundamental
part of our world. Ask a physicist or a philosopher to define it
more precisely and, if they don't immediately change the subject,
they'll probably tell you what you already know: time, they will say,
is what clocks measure.
Our species may not be ready to show off its deep understanding of
the nature of time at the next intergalactic, interdisciplinary
symposium, but we could probably give a decent lecture on how to
measure it. From the first stick-in-the- ground sundials to the
current crop ...