Time and Distance

Description

Big Ben was an engineering marvel when it was built, accurate to within one second per hour. By the 19th century, advances in technology had established a reliable unit of distance as well, basing the length of the meter on a portion of the Earth's circumference rather than on the arm of whichever monarch was in power. In this program, Marcus du Sautoy reviews the history and current status of the meter and the second and explains how their standardization was a boon to both science and the economy. Beginning with cave paintings and ending with the atomic clock, du Sautoy also reveals the role that Henry Ford played in synchronizing the counting of time.

Runtime

59 min

Series

Subjects

Genre

Date of Publication

[2013], c2011

Database

Films on Demand

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