BBC article, "Leap second proposal sparks row":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4420084.stm
I found this bit particularly amusing:
> The decision stemmed from the work 200 years previously of the first
> English Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, who calculated that the
> Earth rotated on its axis once every 24 hours.
It must have been very confusing for people before it was
realised that there were 24 hours in a day. You'd have
thought somebody would have noticed the pattern before,
though.
And yes, my inner pedant has to note that it's once and a
bit every 24 hours.
Ed.
Received on Thu Nov 10 2005 - 02:50:13 PST