Then we can try to define it, hopefully in a satisfactory (plausible) manner. I wouldn't put too much on it though. Everybody that I know who has tried has had to step outside our observable universe a tad. 
Cyracuz,
I damned sure don't know. Hawkings seems to postulate that at the edge of a "black hole" "time" would stand still. I am afraid that also would be different due to an observers location. (within the event horizon or outside it.)
Then I read him to imply that time is dependent on the speed of light
If the Empire Clocks accuracy were location dependent then that would be a clear answer. But they are dependent upon the oscillations of a cesium atom.
So if a unit of time is taken to be the difference in the number of atomic oscillations between two arbitrarily chosen points then the speed of light also would vary due to gravity. (Pendulum clocks do behave this way)
In this case time is also location dependent. (Lots of good science fiction based on time travel, but your "atomic engine" probably wouldn't work; or perhaps work too good
John, What preconception of time do you think that I could be beneficially bereft of
And have you conceded that time may exist
John,
Wavelengths of light would change. Triangulated distances to celestial objects would change, as opposed to a measureable change due to gravities. Perceived colors would change.
It seems strange but even the color of a leaf is dependent upon the wavelength of reflected light, which in turn is affects the number of wave cycles that pass a given point in a certain interval of "time".
But anyways, back to the thread. Can we agree that "time" is a "real" component of the universe, or is it merely a human belief devised by employers to make employees work harder
John,
There is purported to exist a phenomenon known as a "gravitational red shift". This has been shown in several examples most notably the viewing of the aparent motion of stars during an eclipse viewed from South Africa in 1929.
There is also a "Doppler red shift". This phenomen is well known to our local traffic police. In Virginia 65 mph in an area zoned for 55mph will cost $140.00 US. I can attest to that fact. Regrettably so
Personally I suspect that this phenomen has a bit to do with our varying perceptions of "time" but I sure haven't figured it out. This doesn't imply that the people who don't understand time is a very exclusive assemblage.
Again I suspect that our perception of time is due to some interaction between the "Doppler" red shift and the "gravitational" one.
Next time
