The Measurement of Time

Time, Frequency and the Atomic Clock

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by Claude Audoin and Bernard Guinot,

Translated by Stephen Lyle

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published September 2001, 356 pages, paper

ISBN 0521003970

This volume is a comprehensive introduction to the physics of time and time measurement, from an historical perspective to the modern day. It discusses the stability and accuracy of atomic frequency standards, covering different types of oscillators and atomic clocks, and their uses. The precision of atomic clocks and the atomic time scale are considered in the context of fundamental physical research, with relation to general relativity and applications such as the Global Positioning System. The authors also discuss International Atomic Time and its relationship to Coordinated Universal Time and the time scales used in astronomy.

Contents

1. Introduction to the book
2. The principles of time measurement
3. Time measurement and theoretical models
4. The evolution of time measurement
5. Clock time
6. Atomic frequency standards
7. Atomic time measurement
8. Astronomical times
9. Ultraprecise time and frequency applications; Appendices.