In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg: Measurement of Time

The history of ideas discussed by Melvyn Bragg and guests including Philosophy, science, literature, religion and the influence these ideas have on us today.

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the measurement of time. Early civilisations used the movements of heavenly bodies to tell the time, then mechanical clocks emerged in Europe in the medieval period. For hundreds of years clocks were inaccurate but now atomic clocks are capable of keeping time to a second in 15 million years. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Kristen Lippincott, Former Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich; Jim Bennett, Director of the Museum of the History of Science at the University of Oxford and Jonathan Betts, Senior Curator of Horology at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot

Also huffduffed as…

  1. In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg: Measurement of Time

    —Huffduffed by adactio on May 22nd, 2012

  2. In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg: Measurement of Time

    —Huffduffed by snapncrackle on May 29th, 2012

  3. In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg: Measurement of Time

    —Huffduffed by matro on August 15th, 2012

Possibly related…

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    Our perception and measurement of time has changed as our civilisation has evolved. That change has been driven by networks, from trade routes to the internet. Now that we have the real-time web allowing instantaneous global communication, there’s a danger that we may neglect our legacy for the future. While the web has democratised publishing, allowing anyone to share ideas with a global audience, it doesn’t appear to be the best medium for preserving our cultural resources: websites and documents disappear down the digital memory hole every day. But we can change that. This presentation will offer an alternative history of technology and a fresh perspective on the future that is ours to save.

    http://adactio.com/articles/5312/

    —Huffduffed by adactio one year ago

  2. Time And Time Again

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    —Huffduffed by djryan 6 months ago

  3. The Physics of Time

    When writing the Principia Mathematica, Isaac Newton declared his hand on most of the big questions in physics. He outlined the nature of space, explained the motions of the planets and conceived the operation of gravity. He also laid down the law on time declaring:

    “Absolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external.”

    For Newton time was absolute and set apart from the universe, but with the theories of Albert Einstein time became more complicated; it could be squeezed and distorted and was different in different places.

    Time is integral to our experience of things but we find it very difficult to think about. It may not even exist and yet seems written into the existence of absolutely everything.

    Contributors:

    Jim Al-Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey

    Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open University

    Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20081218.shtml

    (sometimes, they pull these shows after a week…but there’s a real audio stream available on their site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/rams/inourtime_20081218.ram)

    —Huffduffed by Clampants 4 years ago