Second (metric)

A Second is a unit of time.

• It is a standard Imperial metric.

Description (Specifications)

An Imperial second (a "standard second") is a small unit of time. A standard second is used to overcome difficulties caused by having non-uniform local times on each world and system.

Modern Imperial usage defines the second as "the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom".

• The ability to accurately interpret this value is gained at around TL-6, with the advent of sophisticated electronic computers.
• The common Imperial abbreviation is sec.

A second is considered to be the smallest unit of time within which a meaningful interaction or reaction can take place. While this may be true for a typical human, other species or sophont races may have alternative perceptions of – and ability to act within – the passage of a single second.

MKS and CGS Units

The MKS system of units is a physical system of measurement based on the meter as the unit of length, the kilogram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time. Smaller scale measurements may utilize the CGS system, based on the centimeter as the unit of length, the gram as the unit of mass, and the second as the unit of time. The system has broad applications within science, engineering and commerce.

Equivalent Metrics

Other interstellar cultures have different values for the second.

• Hkur'ghe (K'kree): 2.58 standard seconds.
• Uealaao (Aslan): 1.988 standard seconds.

History & Background (Dossier)

Technologists found the minute useful as the concept of the Technology Level and standardized ideas about sophont society development began to take form.

The second was defined as a unit of time on Terra prior to the foundation of the Terran Confederation. It was originally calculated as being 1/60^th of a Terran Minute, or 1/3600^th of a Terran Hour, or 1/86,400^th of a Terran Solar Day (the time it took for Sol as observed from the surface of Terra at its equator to go from its Zenith overhead at high Noon until it reached its Zenith again the following day), a period of exactly 24 Terran hours.

During the dawn of Solomani civilization on Ancient pre-Industrial Terra, in a region of the Eurasian supercontinent known as Mesopotamia, the early proto-astronomers (actually astrologers) of this period who observed the heavens utilized a sexigesimal numbering system, that is to say a "Base-60" system, with a secondary associated "Base-10" sub-base. Given the length of the Terran year of approximately 365.25 Solar Days, this was very close to the Sexigesimal value 360 (10 × 6 × 6), and the motions of the heavens were subdivided into an advancement of "one degree of angular motion" per night as they observed the motions of the heavens throughout the Terran year, giving rise to 360° in one full circle of the heavens per year, and thus 1° of angular motion per Solar Day (approximately). The daylight period was traditionally subdivided into 12 periods based upon the subdivisions of a sundial, just as the night had been subdivided into 12 periods based upon the observation that the motion of the heavens throughout the year moved through 12 (actually 13) principal constellations along the Terran ecliptic plane (the one being seen as a microcosm of the other). Thus, a Terran "Solar Day" totaled 24 hours (12 of daylight and 12 of night).

When these early proto-astronomers needed to make more distinct specifications of angular-distance or time, they divided the degree (or hour) into subdivisions of "minute small parts" totaling 60, and if further fine specificity was needed, each of these minute small parts was further subdivided into another 60 minute small parts, and so on, for as many subsequent small subdivisions as were necessary. In the ancient Latin language, the first subdivision of the degree (or hour) was the pars minuta prima, or "first small partition", which has come down to us as the Galanglic word "Minute". If the pars minuta prima was insufficient, then the pars minuta secunda, or "second small partition" was made, giving rise to the Galanglic word "Second". Subsequent Third Small Partitions and Fourth Small Partitions (each 1/60^th of the former) could also be made as necessary (with potentially even smaller successive subdivisions, if necessary; but there are no records of partitions being employed smaller than fourths). Historically, with the rise of Terran Science and Industry, the advent of decimalization replaced thirds and fourths very early, and as a result thirds and fourths have not come down to us as subdivisions in the modern era, subdivisions of the "Second" being expressed decimally.

References & Contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. Referee's Manual (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 57.
• Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Fire, Fusion, & Steel (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), 5.
• David Golden, Guy Garnett. Fire, Fusion & Steel (Imperium Games, 1997), 7.
• Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), TBD.
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science