The Secret of Time

Author: Breis
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Today, people take it for granted that the world is divided into 24 time zones. However, before the establishment of the standard time system in 1884, the calculation of time was arbitrarily determined by different regions. The emergence of railways and telegraphs ushered in a new era of long-distance travel and transoceanic communication, but the chaotic regional times became a tricky communication barrier. Establishing a universal timekeeping system to connect the world became an urgent priority. After years of efforts, Canadian engineer Sandford Fleming successfully brought together scientific and political representatives from 26 countries at the "Prime Meridian Conference" to select the Greenwich Meridian as the zero-degree longitude, providing the world with a unified timekeeping standard. In this book, we will see how Fleming, with the ideal of world unity, promoted the standard time movement, overcame the boundaries of tradition, nation, and region, convinced the world to adopt this scientific timekeeping rule, and thus created an outstanding and far-reaching technological achievement.