Time Standard (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A time standard is a specification for measuring time: either the rate at which time passes; or points in time; or both. In modern times, several time specifications have been officially recognized as standards, where formerly they were matters of custom and practice. An example of a kind of time standard can be a time scale, specifying a method for measuring divisions of time. A standard for civil time can specify both time intervals and time-of-day. Standardized time measurements are made using a clock to count periods of some cyclic change, which may be either the changes of a natural phenomenon or of an artificial machine. Historically, time standards were often based on the Earth's rotational period. From the late 17th century to the 19th century it was believed that the Earth's daily rotational rate was constant.