A brief history of time keeping, reviewed

We look at this popular science book on time and time keeping by Chad Orzel. You can see more about it here.

A brief history of time keeping, reviewed

This book is accessible and easy to read, while still managing to take a deep dive into some of the more complex and metaphysical aspects of time, what it is, how it works, why, as Einstein identified, for the laws of the universe to operate, it is not a constant. Orzel knows his subject matter well, and explains it coherently and clearly. One small issue is that the font size on the copy we had to review was one size smaller than most books are. This made it slightly harder work to review, though of course if you were looking at the digital version you would just increase the font size.

The book covers a range of topics, taking us from the past, to the present, and onto quantum clocks and the future too. Definitely a good book to share with semi-younger readers who are asking you difficult questions about the nature of time.

More about the book

Press the snooze button on your alarm once too often and you soon remember the importance of good timekeeping. That need to tell the time connects you to over five thousand years of human history, from the first solstice markers at Newgrange to quartz crystal oscillating in your watch today. Science underpins time: measuring the movement of Sun, Earth and Moon, and unlocking the mysteries of quantum mechanics and relativity theory – the key to ultra-precise atomic clocks.

Yet time is also socially decided: the Gregorian calendar we use today came out of fraught politics, while the ancient Maya used sophisticated astronomical observations to produce a calendar system unlike any other. In his quirky and accessible style, Chad Orzel reveals the wondrous physics that makes time something we can set, measure and know.

More about the author

Chad Orzel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Union College, where he carries out research in the field of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.

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