What’s the time? - Marcus Brigstocke, Leon Lobo, Louise Devoy

About this episode

The episode explores the concept of time and its measurement, featuring discussions on historical and modern timekeeping methods.

Robin Ince and Brian Cox wind up at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich – arguably the centre of time – to uncoil the mysteries of what time is and how on Earth (…and on moon) we keep track of it. Taking the time to join them are comedian Marcus Brigstocke, curator of the Royal Observatory Louise Devoy, and Head of the National Timing Centre Leon Lobo. From ancient Egyptian knuckle counting to sun dials, quartz oscillators and atomic clocks, the panel turns back time to discover how we measured and kept it throughout history. Together, they dial into why Greenwich has become such an important place for time and how time is synchronised and sold across the globe. They explore the flaws and future of accurate astronomical and atomic timekeeping, and Marcus blames the ‘leap second’ for his fry-up failures. Producer: Olivia Jani Series Producer: Melanie Brown Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem A BBC Studios Production

People in this episode

Hosts: Robin Ince, Brian Cox

Guests: Marcus Brigstocke, Louise Devoy, Leon Lobo

Topics covered

• timekeeping
• history of time
• Greenwich Mean Time
• atomic clocks
• comedy
• science

Keywords

• time
• Greenwich
• atomic clocks
• timekeeping history
• comedy
• science

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Observatory, National Timing Centre

Places: Greenwich, Earth, moon

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