The Intricacies of Timekeeping

How we measure time is a fascinating story of astronomy, math, and technology. It's more complex than you might think.

The Babylonian Legacy: Why 60?

The reason we have 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour traces back over 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. They used a base-60 numbering system, which was practical because 60 is divisible by many numbers, making fractions easy to handle.

Keeping Time with Earth

Our calendar needs constant adjustments. A Leap Year adds an extra day every 4 years to sync our 365-day calendar with the Earth's ~365.24-day orbit. A Leap Second is an even finer adjustment, occasionally added to keep our ultra-precise atomic clocks in sync with the Earth's slowing rotation.