Published March 1962 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Room 342, Old Senate Office Building, Washington 25, D. C. Volume 11 -- Number 9 3-2-62 BYRD'S EYE VIEW A Public Service Column by U. S. SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD NEW PRECISION ATTAINED IN THE MEASUREMENT OF TIME The clock on the kitchen wall is as out-dated as the horse and buggy, because it is built around an inaccurate concept of time. So say Government scientists in the National Bureau of Standards, who are using atomic clocks for precision timing -- clocks that accurately slice each second into billionths of parts. Development of ultra-precise time measuring mechanisms has been a necessary correlation to our space explorations. A probe of the moon, based on conventional time mechanisms, could miss that satellite, because the smallest error in timing is magnified over great distances. For centuries, time has been measured by the rotation of the earth, and by comparing the rates at which , the stars move across the sky. In fact, the movement of the earth in the solar system is the basis of our present international standard for the second. However, in recent years, as measurements of time were made with greater care, it was perceived that there was something wrong with the earth as a timekeeper. It did not rotate at a uniform rate, and it seemed to wobble a little on its axis. In short, it was determined that the movement of the earth is not a precise enough standard of time measurement to meet the present needs of science and the space age. What was required, instead, was some observable, regular, periodic process which could be counted. It was natural for our scientists to turn to the atom as a source of time measurement. Atoms spin or vibrate at constant rates, and are therefore accurately measurable. Our scientists found, when using the atom for measuring a second, that the degree of error was never greater than one ten-billionth of a second -- a precision not possible to achieve by astronomical measurements. Atomic clocks may never replace the kinds we now have in our homes. They can't be hung on walls. In fact, they are so large and heavy that they require a room of their own. Moreover, few householders could afford to own one because each costs tens of thousands of dollars to manufacture. Nonetheless, it is reassuring to know that this new and precise time-piece will enable mankind to reach frontiers of achievements never before considered possible to attain. Perhaps through it we can also learn how we human beings and our earth fit into the larger pattern of the entire creation. --30--