Time in Powers of Ten (ePub)

With a Foreword by Steven WeinbergIn this richly illustrated book, Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft and Theoretical Physicist Stefan Vandoren describe the enormous diversity of natural phenomena that take place at different time scales.In the tradition of the bestseller Powers of Ten, the authors zoom in and out in time, each step with a factor of ten. Starting from one second, time scales are enlarged until processes are reached that take much longer than the age of the universe. After the largest possible eternities, the reader is treated to the shortest and fastest phenomena known. Then the authors increase with powers of ten, until again the second is reached at the end of the book.At each time scale, interesting natural phenomena occur, spread over all scientific disciplines: orbital and rotation periods of planets and stars, decay times of elementary particles and atoms, biological rhythms and evolution processes, but also the different geological time scales.Contents:Part I:100 Seconds = 1 Second101 Seconds = 10 Seconds102 Seconds = 100 Seconds = 1 Minute, 40 Seconds103 Seconds = 1,000 Seconds = 16 Minutes, 40 Seconds104 Seconds = 10,000 Seconds = 2.78 Hours105 Seconds = 100,000 Seconds = 1.16 Days = 27.78 Hours106 Seconds = 1,000,000 = 1 Million Seconds = 11.57 Days = 1.65 Weeks106.41 Seconds = 2,592,000 Seconds = 30 Days ≈ 1 Month107 Seconds = 10 Million Seconds = 115.74 Days = 3.86 Months108 Seconds = 100 Million Seconds = 3.17 Years109 Seconds = 1 Billion Seconds = 31.7 Years1010 Seconds = 10 Billion Seconds = 317 Years1011 Seconds = 100 Billion Seconds = 3,171 Years1012 Seconds = 1 Trillion Seconds = 31,710 Years1013 Seconds = 10 Trillion Seconds = 317,098 Years1014 Seconds = 100 Trillion Seconds = 3.17 Million Years1015 Seconds = 1 Quadrillion Seconds = 31.7 Million Years1016 Seconds = 10 Quadrillion Seconds = 317 Million Years1017 Seconds = 100 Quadrillion Seconds = 3.17 Billion Years1018 Seconds = 1 Quintillion Seconds = 31.7 Billion years: The Large Timescales1021 seconds = 1 Sextillion Seconds = 3.17 × 1013 Years: The Large Timescales1028 Seconds = 3.17 × 1020 Years: The Large Timescales1032 Seconds: To Infinity and Beyond: The Dark EternitiesPart II:10-44 to 10-26 Seconds: Small Timescales10-25 Seconds10-24 Seconds = 1 Yoctosecond10-23 Seconds = 10 Yoctoseconds10-22 Seconds = 100 Yoctoseconds10-21 Seconds = 1 Zeptosecond10-20 Seconds = 10 Zeptoseconds10-19 Seconds = 100 Zeptoseconds10-18 Seconds = 1 Attosecond10-17 Seconds = 10 Attoseconds10-16 Seconds = 100 Attoseconds10-15 Seconds = 1 Femtosecond10-14 Seconds = 10 Femtoseconds10-13 Seconds = 100 Femtoseconds10-12 Seconds = 1 Picosecond10-11 Seconds = 10 Picoseconds10-10 Seconds = 100 Picoseconds10-9 Seconds = 1 Nanosecond10-8 Seconds = 10 Nanoseconds10-7 Seconds = 100 Nanoseconds10-6 Seconds = 1 Microsecond10-5 Seconds = 10 Microseconds10-4 Seconds = 100 Microseconds = 0.0001 Seconds10-3 Seconds = 1 Millisecond = 0.001 Seconds10-2 Seconds = 10 Milliseconds = 0.01 Seconds10-1 Seconds = 100 Milliseconds = 0.1 Seconds100 Seconds = 1 Second-->Readership: Science enthusiasts and students.