[LEAPSECS] props for talks?

[Skip Newhall]

Eric -
 
I like your creative suggestions for displays.
 
Regarding the pendulum - you could add: observing how the period changes with amplitude. A notable portion of technical people think
that the period of a pendulum is independent of the amplitude of its swing. Of course, anyone in this field knows it is only
approximately true for arbitrarily small-amplitude swings, the general case being given by Jacobi's elliptic function rather than a
harmonic solution.
 
Skip Newhall
JPL (Retired)
 
 
 
-----------------  Skip Newhall  ------------------
 
Valencia, CA
 
E-mail: x at sn.to
 
Phone: 1-661-259-9999
 
-----Original Message-----
From: leapsecs-bounces at leapsecond.com [mailto:leapsecs-bounces at leapsecond.com] On Behalf Of Eric Fort
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 1:40 PM
To: Leap Second Discussion List
Subject: Re: [LEAPSECS] props for talks?
 
Somewhat depends upon the intended audience but the following items come to mind and I'll finish with 2 references from which to
pick more.  The props chosen might also depend somewhat at to what "the presented philosophy of what time is" is.
 
Here's a few things that come to mind:
 
Various calendars (Mayan, Hebrew, Julian, Gregorian, etc. illustrating their significance <and making a joke or 2 about the "end of
time"
according to the Mayan long count coming soon) .
Telescope/transit/sextant - translate where you are to when it is.
 
Rubidium Oscillator (a cesium beam is probably a bit big to take along but a modern rubidium easily fits in a suitcase)
 
WWV/WWVH audio receivers WWVB and GPS receivers with display (time/frequency transfer methods & radio controlled clocks)
 
finished and unfinished quartz crystals.
 
marine chronometer
 
pendulum (could be as simple as a mass on a string, variable length being nice as one can observe how the period changes with length
<and with variation in g should you be able to arrange such ;) > )
 
heliometer
 
pocket watch
 
clepsydra (aka water clock)
 
candles
 
Hourglass
 
sundial
 
tally stick (used for the counting of days)
 
Eric
 
On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Rob Seaman < <mailto:seaman at noao.edu> seaman at noao.edu> wrote:

> 

> I'm giving a colloquium in a couple of weeks and would welcome suggestions for neat timekeeping gizmos (borrowed or bought) to

spark interest.

> 

> Rob

> 

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