Time

ALIC Resources

The following is a list of published works on timekeeping and calendars in ALIC's collections. Additional titles can be identified by searching ALIC's Online Public Access Catalog.

1. The American almanac and repository of useful knowledge for the year ...: comprising a calendar for the year; astronomical information; miscellaneous directions, hints, and remarks; and statistical and other particulars respecting foreign countries and the United States. Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830-1861. 32 v.
   AY 53 A5
2. The Gregorian calendar compared with the French revolutionary calendar, adopted by the National Assembly and printed in full in Le Moniteur universel of "Octidi, 28 Frimaire, I'an 2e", "Wednesday, December 18, 1793, old style". [S.l.: s.n., 19--]. [6] p.
   CE 77 G8
3. A Walk through time: a journey offered to you. [Gaithersburg, MD]: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1992. [20] p.
   C 13.2:T 48
4. Bartky, Ian R. One time fits all: the campaigns for global uniformity. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2007. xxv, 292 p.
   QB 223 B37 2007
5. Bartky, Ian R. Selling the true time: nineteenth-century timekeeping in America. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, c2000. xvi, 310 p.
   QB 210 U5 B37 2000
6. Dennis, Matthew. Red, white, and blue letter days: an American calendar. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, c2002. xi, 338 p.
   GT 4803 A2 D46 2002
7. Jespersen, James. From sundials to atomic clocks: understanding time and frequency. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1999. 308 p.
   QC 100 U556 no.155 1999
8. Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. The railway journey: the industrialization of time and space in the 19th century. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1986. xvi, 203 p., [16] p. of plates.
   HE 1021 S3413 1986
9. Yourgrau, Palle. A world without time: the forgotten legacy of Godel and Einstein. New York: Basic Books, c2005. viii, 210 p., [4] p. of plates.
   BD 638 Y68 2005

Other Resources

Official U.S. Time

(National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory)

These two agencies contribute to world time, or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), for the U.S. The time is accurate within .1 second.
 

Doomsday Algorithm

This site explains the formula for calculating the day of the week of a given date.
 

A Brief History of Timekeeping

 

An article by Helen Margolis from Physics World.
 

A Chronicle of Timekeeping

An article by William J.H. Andrewes from Scientific American.
 

The History of Timekeeping

A history of timekeeping from using the sun to the development of atomic clocks.
 

National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors Museum

The Watch and Clock Museum houses over 13,000 timekeepers and ephemera from around the world.
 

Horology - The Index

Horology is the science of measuring time and the art of making timepieces. This site offers links to information about timepieces of all kinds, repair and restoration, collecting, and more.
 

Local Times Around the World

This site attempts to list all of the countries of the world with their local times.
 

Perpetual Calendar

This site calculates the day of the week for any date from January 1, 1 B.C. to December 31, 2999. Also included is the formula for determining for figuring out the day of the week for any date.
 

The Perpetual Calendar

An article by Toke Nørby that discusses the conversion from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, and provides advice for determining the New Calendar (Gregorian) date for an Old Calendar (Julian) date.
 

A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells

A digitized version of Baron Edmund Beckett Grimthorpe’s 1903 book on time measurement, chronometers, and bells.
 

A Walk through Time

(National Institute of Standards and Technology)

This NIST web site explores the evolution of time measurement.
 

World Time Server

This handy site gives times for locations worldwide. Includes a searchable list of locations by country or city.