On the subject of time, St. Augustine said something to the effect of: "when I don't have to explain it, I know what time is." Auggie's evasive answer is echoed today in the words of scientists trying to come to terms with how to define the stuff that swatches are made of. This colorful documentary, which combines interviews with physicists and astronomers, archival photos and footage, and computer-generated models, traces both the history and current understanding of the elusive subject of time. Viewers will learn about the rudimentary time-keeping efforts of the Babylonians and Egyptians (which worked pretty good, except for the fact that they didn't factor in leap years), the reform of the Julian calendar, the invention of the stable pendulum (which didn't, unfortunately, work well on ships), and how the railroads caused a royal mess time-wise, leading to the adoption of the different time zones across the U.S. During the second half of the program, various interviewees tackle the tricky topic of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (using such sophisticated tools as a model train boxcar and salt and pepper shakers), and ask whether the concept of time is even meaningful within the weird parameters of a black hole. Although time does have a tendency to slip away, obsessive-compulsive types will be comforted to know that with today's atomic clocks, we can keep time to about a billionth of a second (or they'll have something new to worry about). Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
About Time
(1995) 37 min. $79.95. Cambridge Educational. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 11, Issue 1
About Time
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