From Quartz to Atomic Clock

The history of Earth’s rotation begins in a time when dinosaurs roamed a faster-spinning world, creating days that lasted only 23 hours.

Over millions of years, the gravitational interactions with celestial bodies and the redistribution of the planet’s mass have gradually slowed this rotation to our current 24-hour day.

This evolution underpins the importance of precise time measurement as our activities—from agriculture and navigation to modern computing and international finance—depend on synchronizing with this ever-changing cycle.