[LEAPSECS] presentations from AAS Future of Time sessions

[Poul-Henning Kamp]

In message <20140114103334.GV21945 at fysh.org>, Zefram writes:

>Poul-Henning Kamp wrote:

>>They chose UTC because they meant UTC.

>...

>>The reason why they didn't cater to leap-seconds ?

>>

>>They hadn't heard about them at the time.

>

>It's dubious to say that they meant UTC if they weren't aware of

>leap seconds.  As that's the defining feature of UTC [...]


No.

The defining feature of UTC is the bit they put in the name:  Coordinated.

To everybody else but the scientists who tickled the atomic clocks,
leap seconds was an academic detail of no consequence.

UTC being Coordinated was a The Big Deal, and the *only* reason why
CCITT ever got involved in timescales:  Telcos needed to schedule and
bill across national borders.

Some of you guys should really have gotten more out into reality
in the 1970'ies and 1980'ies if you think people cared about
or for leapseconds.

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