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I've found the 1/376-minute definition in multiple places. However, the closest I've found to an "original" definition is in Bede's "The Reckoning of Time," translation by Faith Wallis:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%2Batomus+definition+%2Btime+history&source=bl&ots=ggxdq8DX1Y&sig=2_xszzudLQ65882-NJLXzXxzZvw&hl=en&ei=0FYjSt-PI5_aswO_sMmVBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
This is an astrological definition in terms of celestial coordinates, and the word "atomus" is not used at all. However, Bede notes that the astrologers had also arrived at the "atom" (the smallest, indivisible unit of measurement in matter or time) by their calculation, and the smallest unit of measurement given is 0.125 arcsecond, or 1/480 arcminute. Another source, "Mensuration and Proportion Signs" by Anna Maria Busse Berger:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%2Batomus+definition+%2Btime+history&source=bl&ots=ggxdq8DX1Y&sig=2_xszzudLQ65882-NJLXzXxzZvw&hl=en&ei=0FYjSt-PI5_aswO_sMmVBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
cites Bede as noting that the terms "atomus," "punctum," and "momentum" were sometimes used interchangeably.
For lack of hard evidence, I'll have to resort to conjecture. A defined value of 1/376 minute sounds like it comes from some time between the dawn of modern science and the adoption of the metric system. Since the original meaning was a "twinkling of an eye," and 1/376 minute is about 0.156 seconds, maybe someone calculated the average time it takes a human eye to blink and turned it into a whole-number fraction of an existing unit of measurement.
EDIT:
Regarding the Final Jeopardy answer, the atomus was certainly in use as a unit of time during the medieval period, but Bede's observations suggest that the "current" definition of 1/376 minute is of more recent origin.
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- From the book "Germany in the High Middle ages - c. 1050 - 1200
by Horst Fuhrmann
In medieval time, the Latin Atomus meant "a twinkling of the eye," the smallest amount of time imaginable. Nowadays, it's defined as 1/376 minute or about 160 milliseconds. That amount of time may seem to pass very fast to the human senses. In computer networking and gaming, however a 160 millisecond ping time would make your connection appear to be quite slow, because each packet would have the 160 millisecond delay attached to it. It'd be very difficult to play online games because while 160 milliseconds seems fast, it can mean the difference between being fragged or winning the game.
Source(s):
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/01/30/fun-and-unusual-units-of-measurements/
http://askville.amazon.com/376-minute-smallest-unit-time-nanoseconds-millis...
Tags: millisecond, atomus, time, smallest, measure
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Atomic units (au) form a system of units convenient for atomic physics, electromagnetism, and quantum electrodynamics, especially when the focus is on the properties of electrons. There are two different kinds of atomic units, which one might name Hartree atomic units and Rydberg atomic units, which differ in the choice of the unit of mass and charge. This article deals with Hartree atomic units. In au, the numerical values of the following six physical constants are all unity by definition:
Two properties of the electron, its mass and charge;
Two properties of the hydrogen atom, its Bohr radius and the absolute value of its electric potential energy in the ground state;
---/quote--
Check out more in source links
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_units#Fundamental_units
http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/atomic.html
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Source(s):
Chronicles By Chris Given-Wilson
pages 220-223 of Worcester ii
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Answered Question
M$5
June 01, 2009 12:15 AM
What is the origin of the 'atomus' unit of time?
The Final question on the US based TV show Jeopardy on May 14th, 2009 asked "In Medieval England, it meant the smallest unit of time, 1/376 of a minute; It didn’t refer to matter until the 16th Century.". The answer, of course, is the 'atom' short for the temporal unit 'atomus'.
Someone asked a related question about the 'atomus' being the smallest unit of time ( http://www.mahalo.com/answers/science-and-mathematics/is-an-atomus-the-smallest-unit-of-time ), but what I am looking for is the origin of the unit.
How did the 1/376 of a minute come to be? Why, exactly, is the atomus unit defined that way?
A site online provides some clarification: http://www.keybol.org/2009/05/1376-of-minute.html ; "...the book Chronicles By Chris Given-Wilson, an instant was reckoned at 1/376 of a minute. It was on pages 220-223 of Worcester ii. Also, in medieval time, 1/376 of a minute or about 160 milliseconds converts to the time reached on a twinkling of an eye. It translates in Latin as Atomus."
The question is, why 1/376? Why not 1/377 or 1/375? What makes the 1/376 of a minute so special?
Someone asked a related question about the 'atomus' being the smallest unit of time ( http://www.mahalo.com/answers/science-and-mathematics/is-an-atomus-the-smallest-unit-of-time ), but what I am looking for is the origin of the unit.
How did the 1/376 of a minute come to be? Why, exactly, is the atomus unit defined that way?
A site online provides some clarification: http://www.keybol.org/2009/05/1376-of-minute.html ; "...the book Chronicles By Chris Given-Wilson, an instant was reckoned at 1/376 of a minute. It was on pages 220-223 of Worcester ii. Also, in medieval time, 1/376 of a minute or about 160 milliseconds converts to the time reached on a twinkling of an eye. It translates in Latin as Atomus."
The question is, why 1/376? Why not 1/377 or 1/375? What makes the 1/376 of a minute so special?
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Best Answer Decided by Votes
| June 01, 2009 04:50 AM |
http://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%2Batomus+definition+%2Btime+history&source=bl&ots=ggxdq8DX1Y&sig=2_xszzudLQ65882-NJLXzXxzZvw&hl=en&ei=0FYjSt-PI5_aswO_sMmVBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
This is an astrological definition in terms of celestial coordinates, and the word "atomus" is not used at all. However, Bede notes that the astrologers had also arrived at the "atom" (the smallest, indivisible unit of measurement in matter or time) by their calculation, and the smallest unit of measurement given is 0.125 arcsecond, or 1/480 arcminute. Another source, "Mensuration and Proportion Signs" by Anna Maria Busse Berger:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yFsw-Vaup6sC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%2Batomus+definition+%2Btime+history&source=bl&ots=ggxdq8DX1Y&sig=2_xszzudLQ65882-NJLXzXxzZvw&hl=en&ei=0FYjSt-PI5_aswO_sMmVBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1
cites Bede as noting that the terms "atomus," "punctum," and "momentum" were sometimes used interchangeably.
For lack of hard evidence, I'll have to resort to conjecture. A defined value of 1/376 minute sounds like it comes from some time between the dawn of modern science and the adoption of the metric system. Since the original meaning was a "twinkling of an eye," and 1/376 minute is about 0.156 seconds, maybe someone calculated the average time it takes a human eye to blink and turned it into a whole-number fraction of an existing unit of measurement.
EDIT:
Regarding the Final Jeopardy answer, the atomus was certainly in use as a unit of time during the medieval period, but Bede's observations suggest that the "current" definition of 1/376 minute is of more recent origin.
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Other Answers (3)
June 01, 2009 04:51 AM
"The great experts in time-reckoning of the Middle Ages used divisions of time ranging from the century (saeculum) to the unit of time which could not be divided further (atomus). Between these lay the lustrum (5 years), annus (year), mensis month), hebdomada (week), dies (day), hora (hour), quadrans (quarter of an hour), minutum (minute), momentum (the period of time in whihc one can discern that time has moved), and ostentum (the time needed to take something in with the eyes). The smallest unit of time was the ictus oculi ('twinkling of an eye), which was equated with the atomus." - From the book "Germany in the High Middle ages - c. 1050 - 1200
by Horst Fuhrmann
In medieval time, the Latin Atomus meant "a twinkling of the eye," the smallest amount of time imaginable. Nowadays, it's defined as 1/376 minute or about 160 milliseconds. That amount of time may seem to pass very fast to the human senses. In computer networking and gaming, however a 160 millisecond ping time would make your connection appear to be quite slow, because each packet would have the 160 millisecond delay attached to it. It'd be very difficult to play online games because while 160 milliseconds seems fast, it can mean the difference between being fragged or winning the game.
Source(s):
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/01/30/fun-and-unusual-units-of-measurements/
http://askville.amazon.com/376-minute-smallest-unit-time-nanoseconds-millis...
Tags: millisecond, atomus, time, smallest, measure
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Tip nadiraziz for this answer
Voted as best: bbrookin
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June 01, 2009 06:28 AM
---quote-- Atomic units (au) form a system of units convenient for atomic physics, electromagnetism, and quantum electrodynamics, especially when the focus is on the properties of electrons. There are two different kinds of atomic units, which one might name Hartree atomic units and Rydberg atomic units, which differ in the choice of the unit of mass and charge. This article deals with Hartree atomic units. In au, the numerical values of the following six physical constants are all unity by definition:
Two properties of the electron, its mass and charge;
Two properties of the hydrogen atom, its Bohr radius and the absolute value of its electric potential energy in the ground state;
---/quote--
Check out more in source links
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_units#Fundamental_units
http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/atomic.html
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June 03, 2009 11:22 AM
But on the book Chronicles By Chris Given-Wilson, an instant was reckoned at 1/376 of a minute. It was on pages 220-223 of Worcester ii. Also, in medieval time, 1/376 of a minute or about 160 milliseconds converts to the time reached on a twinkling of an eye. It translates in Latin as Atomus.
Source(s):
Chronicles By Chris Given-Wilson
pages 220-223 of Worcester ii
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Voted as best: yagelski
Reply
June 03, 2009 08:22 PM
I quote that book and its except in my question. What are you adding, exaclty?
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However! What I am specifically looking for (and whose answer might not necessarily exist) is the definition of the 1/376 of a minute. What sort of measurements were they making when they came to this definition? Was there any rigorous scientific enquiry done on the measurements on how long it took an eye to "twink"?
You mention that the 1/376 of a minute is 0.156 seconds... but (I believe) that the people in the medieval era did not have instruments that could measure time to that accuracy.
Most units are defined back to some authoritative unit. For instance, the distance measurement unit of 'foot' was defined to be approximately the length of a man's foot... then it standardized (maybe) based off the ruler's foot length. (See the historical section of the Foot entry on wikipedia1). All distance units were then based off this standard unit. For temporal measurements, I assume that people always used the time that the earth travels around the sun. This time is presently determined 365 and 1/4 days (approx.), and is called one 'year'. Hours, minutes and seconds are all extrapolated from this base time reference unit definition.
The question relates back to the relationship between the minute and the atomus. Who or what came up with the relationship between the temporal unit of minute (being 1/60 of an hour, which an hour is 1/24 of a day, etc. etc.) to the temporal definition of 1/376?
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_(length)#Historical_origin