Search

This article discusses the practice of changing clocks by one hour, which occurs semiannually in the US and many other countries. The article explores the interplay between this practice and physics, physiology, and sociology. It argues that opponents of clock changing often misinterpret statistics and fail to consider the discomforts that would arise at certain latitudes without clock adjustments. The article concludes that changing clocks helps people accommodate extreme sunrise times in the winter and summer, and can be seen as a compromise. [Extracted from the article]

Certain coastal localities attempt to attract tourists by claiming to have the earliest sunrise or latest sunset in their country or even continent. This article documents the places in mainland Europe where the sun sets latest during the year. In contradiction to the naïve assumption that the sun always sets latest at the westernmost point, the point of last sunset changes cyclically over the course of a year due to the changing orientation of the axis of the Earth with respect to the sun. On mainland Europe, the focus of this study, between the winter and summer solstices the last sunset shifts successively from Cabo de São Vicente (Portugal) to Cabo da Roca (Portugal) to Cabo Touriñán (Spain) to a site near Aglapsvik (Norway) to a location in the Norwegian municipality of Måsøy south of Havøysund; and it shifts back again between the summer and winter solstices. There are even 2 days of the year (24th April and 18th August) on which the last sunset of mainland Europe coincides with the last sunset of mainland Africa, at a site in Western Sahara near Cap Blanc. A similar analysis of the first sunrise in Spain is also done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article about the role and influence of Thomas Bradwardine on the development of dynamics by Edith Sylla in the April 2008 issue.

Presents a letter to the editor about the moons of the planet Jupiter.