McCarthy D., Seidelmann P. Time: From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics

2nd Edition. — Cambridge University Press, 2018. — 404 p. — ISBN: 978-1-107-19728-2.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.Time: pre-twentieth century
Solar time
Ephemerides
Variable Earth rotation
Earth orientation
Ephemeris time
Relativity and time
Time and cosmology
Dynamical and coordinate time scales
Clock developments
Microwave atomic clocks
Optical atomic standards
Definition and role of a second
International Atomic Time (TAI)
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Time in the solar system
Time and frequency transfer
Modern Earth orientation
International activities
Time applications
Future of time keeping
AcronymsTrue PDF