1948/07/01 by W. A. Marrison · 8 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Time Series Analysis and Forecasting #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
paper · doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01343.x
openalex publication_date 1948/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Some of the earliest documents in human history relate to man's interest in timekeeping. This interest arose partly because of his curiosity about the visible world around him, and partly because the art of time measurement became an increasingly important part of living as the need for cooperation between the members of expanding groups increased. There are still in existence devices believed to have been made by the Egyptians six thousand years ago for the purpose of telling time from the stars, and there is good reason to believe that they were in quite general use by the better educated people of that period.1Since that period there has been a continuous use and improvement of timekeeping methods and devices, following sometimes quite independent lines, but developing through a long series of new ideas and refinements into the very precise means at our disposal today.