[time-nuts] The future of UTC

Jim Lux jimlux at earthlink.net
Fri Jul 15 13:22:30 UTC 2011


On 7/15/11 3:17 AM, Steve Rooke wrote:
> Well, instead of leap seconds which seem to be the biggest bug bear
> for everyone, keep the second as 1/86,400 of the earths current
> rotation and adjust the factor used in the calculation of atomic time
> on a regular basis. No more leap seconds just leap atomic division
> factor. Unless you can try and convince the world that all this hours,
> minutes and seconds thing will have to change and some new system for
> defining the day with the granularity of some arbitrarily chosen
> factor of atomic time (which was in line with the earth's rotation 50
> years ago or so) is worked out. The day that the second was defined in
> an atomic form has always meant that it bears little relationship to
> the idea of a second that was held before it and is used in the real
> world of wall clock time now.
>
why stay with the ridiculous base 60 system inherited from the Babylonians?

Why not decimalize it.  Oh wait, that was tried a few hundred years ago, 
but perhaps the time is now right?  If the UK can decimalize pounds, 
shillings, and pence, perhaps it is time to bow to the decimal hegemony.



As I write this at Sextidi 26 Messiador an CCXIX a 5:63:49 t.m.P.




More information about the Time-nuts_lists.febo.com mailing list