Time's Mysteries Part I: Marking Time

Podcast Episode Summary

ENCORE 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