euclid The Time Traveler's Clock, User Manual

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Figure 2: GPS and RTC Display
UTC Navigational Time
There are many standards for time and date. Besides the standard local time zones,
there is a basis time known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC is defined as the
time at the zero meridian which passes through Greenwich, UK. It is regulated by an
international committee, the International Time Bureau. Periodically, leapseconds are
added (or subtracted) from UTC in order to keep it more or less synchronous with
Earth’s rotation relative to the stars. Since UTC is always within one half second of the
Earth’s rotation, it is the preferred time standard to be used for navigation. For that
reason, the TTC uses UTC in all its displays and on the Hamilton chronometer.
Origin of the TTC
How Did This Project Begin?
After discovering and rebuilding the Time Viewer originally constructed by Leonardo; da
Vinci, the present inventor saw the need for a navigational clock for time travelers. It
may be true that Leonardo traveled to America in the 1940s, that he wanted to return
to Milano in 1478, and that he built the Time Viewer in order to learn the future
technology needed to construct a time-traveling machine. We know that Leonardo did
remain in Italy for the rest of his life. Could it be that he couldn’t navigate in time
anymore, since he lacked a chronometer? If the present inventor is ever able to build a
time-traveling machine, he would want to carry with him the most reliable possible
chronometer. So, first things first: the inventor turned his efforts to creating that
timekeeper.