Long-term timekeeping in the clock of the long now

pp. 331-336

in: Elisa Felicitas Arias, Ludwig Combrinck, Pavel Gabor, Catherine Hohenkerk (eds), The science of time 2016, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

We construct our systems of time for many different purposes: to measure intervals and events, to predict the future and solidify the past, and to align our activities with the cycles of the seasons and days. For most purposes, we can ignore the differences between the kinds of time that we need for these different purposes, but over long intervals, we cannot. This article describes the nine kinds of time that are used in the construction of the Clock of the Long Now, a mechanical clock that is designed to keep time continuously for 10,000 years.