Big Picture Science Time's Mysteries Part I: Marking Time
Dec 28, 2009
53:05
Time's a mystery, yet we've invented clever ways to capture it. From sundials to atomic clocks, trace the history of time-keeping. Also, discover the surprising accuracy of nature's dating schemes - from the decay of carbon to laying down tree rings.
Plus, why the "New York minute" stretches to hours in Rio de Janeiro: cultural differences in the perception of time.
Guests:
- Chris Turney - Geologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia and the author of Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened
- Demetrios Matsakis - Head of the U.S. Naval Observatory's Time Service
- Steven Jefferts - Physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado
- Robert Levine - Psychologist at California State University in Fresno and the author of A Geography of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist, or How Every Culture Keeps Time Just a Little Bit Differently
- Norman Mohr - Owner, Mohr Clocks, Mountain View, California
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