Tenth of a Second : a History
In the late fifteenth century, clocks acquired minute hands. A century later, second hands appeared. But it wasn't until the 1850s that instruments could recognize a tenth of a second, and, once they did, the impact on modern science and society was profound. Revealing the history behind this infinitesimal interval, A Tenth of a Second sheds new light on modernity and illuminates the work of important thinkers of the last two centuries. Tracing debates about the nature of time, causality, and free will, as well as the introduction of modern technologies-telegraphy, photograp
1 online resource (284 pages)
9780226093208, 0226093204
1058457134
Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Introduction; 2. Reaction Time and the Personal Equation; 3. The Measure of All Thoughts; 4. Moments of Contact; 5. Captured by Cinematography; 6. Stabilizing Physics; 7. Reacting to Relativity; 8. Conclusion; Postscript; Bibliography; Index