David J. Helfand, former chair of the Astronomy Department at Columbia University, has served on Columbia’s faculty for nearly five decades. He was also president and vice chancellor of Quest University Canada. Helfand is the chair of the American Institute of Physics and a past president of the American Astronomical Society. His commentary has appeared in Nature, Physics Today, the Globe and Mail, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, among other publications, and he is the author of A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age: Scientific Habits of Mind (Columbia, 2016).
David Helfand is a distinguished scientist, specially acclaimed in the community for his skills as an expositor. These talents – along with his intellectual range – are manifest in this highly original and culture-spanning book which gathers and recounts diverse ways whereby scientific analysis can enrich historical understanding. Few people could have written The Universal Timekeepers so well. It is fascinating, wide-ranging, and accessible; everyone should read it. -- Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal The Universal Timekeepers is a wonderful exploration that reveals how wispy atomic nuclei provide a powerful means for reconstructing history. Using engaging examples from art forgeries to the Shroud of Turin to the Big Bang itself, Helfand expertly ushers readers through the subtle science that vibrantly brings the past to life. -- Brian Greene, author of <i>The Elegant Universe</i> and <i>Until the End of Time</i> Helfand will enthuse and educate readers about the marvelous applications of atomic and nuclear physics to learn about human and natural history. I had a blast reading this book. -- Jordy de Vries, University of Amsterdam