Re: Cesium Clocks

[Ccja@aol.com]

One reason for the unwarranted, though not at all unreasonable, assumption
that a "cesium clock", frequently called an "atomic" clock, uses a
radioisotope of cesium (whether Cs-137, or another) is that people may figure
that the timing function uses the decay constant of the nuclide, in some way.
Also, there has been, historically, and continues to be, considerable
confusion about the meanings, and proper usages, of the terms "atomic" and
"nuclear." This goes right back to the beginning, when nuclear weapons were
referred to as "atomic bombs", and is perpetuated by even the most literate
and knowledgeable of the lay media, e.g., the New York Times, The Economist.