Bulletin Horaire was the regular publication in which the Bureau International de l'Heure (BIH) presented the results of their work intercomparing time services around the world. Initially the circulars of Bulletin Horaire were published every other month in a sequence of Tomes (Volumes). The dates on the title page of the circulars were the day they were submitted for typesetting. The content of each circular was as much of the data as had been possible to gather and reduce as of its bi-monthly date. This initial sequence of tomes (volumes) was numbered 1 through 7, and those covered the years from 1921 through 1941. For circulars of Bulletin Horaire during this initial period of the tomes (volumes) the date ranges of the tables of data are always some months behind the date on the title page.
issue | date | synopsis |
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Tome (Volume) 1 (1921/1924)
scans at ADS | ||
v1n000p001 | Avertissement | |
v1n001p003 | 1922-01-15 | |
v1n002p013 | 1922-02-15 | |
v1n003p021 | 1922-03-31 | |
v1n004p037 | 1922-07-20 | |
v1n005p061 | 1922-12-20 | |
v1n006p085 | 1923-02-23 | |
v1n007p105 | 1923-05-10 | |
v1n008p127 | 1923-06-15 | |
v1n009p139 | 1923-07-27 | |
v1n010p167 | 1923-10-20 | |
v1n011p197 | 1923-12-26 | |
v1n012p217 | 1924-02-16 | |
v1n013p241 | 1924-05-15 | |
v1n014p285 | 1924-07-01 | |
v1n015p313 | 1924-10-10 | |
v1n016p329 | 1924-12-10 | |
v1n017p367 | 1925-01-21 | |
v1n018p387 | 1925-02-25 | |
Tome (Volume) 2 (1925/1927) scans at ADS | ||
v2n019p001 | 1925-06-15 | |
v2n020p047 | 1925-08-05 | |
v2n021p063 | 1925-10-25 | |
v2n022p075 | 1925-12-25 | |
v2n023p099 | 1926-01-08 | |
v2n024p123 | 1926-01-08 | |
v2n025p147 | 1926-04-10 | |
v2n026p171 | 1926-06-10 | |
v2n027p195 | 1926-07-25 | |
v2n028p219 | 1926-08-20 | |
v2n029p235 | 1926-10-10 | |
v2n030p251 | 1926-12-10 | |
v2n031p275 | 1927-01-08 | |
v2n032p299 | 1927-02-20 | |
v2n033p331 | 1927-04-15 | |
v2n034/35p363 | 1927-07-10 | |
Tome (Volume) 3 (1928/1929) scans at ADS | ||
v3n036p001 | 1927-09-12 | |
v3n037p017 | 1927-10-25 | |
v3n038p033 | 1928-01-10 | |
v3n039p055 | 1928-02-15 | |
v3n040p079 | 1928-03-20 | |
v3n041p111 | 1928-05-20 | |
v3n042p143 | 1928-06-30 | |
v3n043p167 | 1928-09-05 | |
v3n044p207 | 1928-11-01 | |
v3n045p223 | 1929-01-10 | |
v3n046p255 | 1929-02-10 | |
v3n047p303 | 1929-04-15 | |
Tome (Volume) 4 (1929/1932) scans at ADS | ||
v4n048p001 | 1929-04-10 | |
v4n049p021 | 1929-06-10 | |
v4n050p041 | 1929-08-10 | |
v4n051p067 | 1929-10-10 | |
v4n052p085 | 1929-12-10 | |
v4n053p097 | 1930-02-10 | |
v4n054p119 | 1930-04-10 | |
v4n055p135 | 1930-06-10 | |
v4n056p151 | 1930-08-10 | |
v4n057p169 | 1930-10-10 | |
v4n058p185 | 1930-12-10 | |
v4n059p199 | 1931-02-10 | |
v4n060p221 | 1931-04-10 | |
v4n061p239 | 1931-06-10 | heure definitive for 1931 |
v4n062p265 | 1931-08-10 | |
v4n063p277 | 1931-10-10 | |
v4n064p289 | 1931-12-10 | |
v4n065p311 | 1932-02-10 | |
v4n066p333 | 1932-04-10 | |
v4n067p349 | 1932-06-10 | |
v4n068p365 | 1932-08-10 | |
v4n069p379 | 1932-10-10 | |
v4n070p391 | 1932-12-10 | |
v4n071p419 | 1933-02-10 | |
Tome (Volume) 5 (1933/1935) scans at ADS | ||
v5n072p001 | 1933-04-10 | |
v5n073p017 | 1933-06-10 | |
v5n074p037 | 1933-08-10 | |
v5n075p057 | 1933-10-10 | |
v5n076p071 | 1933-12-10 | |
v5n077p087 | 1934-02-10 | |
v5n078p107 | 1934-04-10 | |
v5n079p121 | 1934-06-10 | |
v5n080p137 | 1934-08-10 | |
v5n081p157 | 1934-10-10 | |
v5n082p173 | 1934-12-10 | |
v5n083p189 | 1935-02-10 | |
v5n084p217 | 1935-04-10 | |
v5n085p233 | 1935-06-10 | |
v5n086p253 | 1935-08-10 | |
v5n087p273 | 1935-10-10 | |
v5n088p297 | 1935-12-10 | |
v6n089p325 | 1936-02-10 | |
Tome (Volume) 6 (1936/1938) scans at ADS | ||
v6n090p001 | 1936-04-10 | |
v6n091p025 | 1936-06-10 | |
v6n092p047 | 1936-08-10 | |
v6n093p071 | 1936-10-10 | |
v6n094p091 | 1936-12-10 | |
v6n095p117 | 1937-02-10 | |
v6n096p141 | 1937-04-10 | |
v6n097p155 | 1937-06-10 | |
v6n098p169 | 1937-08-10 | |
v6n099p187 | 1937-10-10 | |
v6n100p207 | 1937-12-10 | |
v6n101p221 | 1938-02-10 | |
v6n102p243 | 1938-04-10 | |
v6n103p257 | 1938-06-10 | |
v6n104p273 | 1938-08-10 | |
v6n105p289 | 1938-10-10 | |
v6n106p311 | 1938-12-10 | |
v6n107p343 | 1939-02-10 | |
Tome (Volume) 7 (1939/1941) scans at ADS | ||
v7n108p001 | 1939-04-10 | |
v7n109p021 | 1939-06-10 | |
v7n110p045 | 1939-08-10 | |
v7n111p067 | 1939-10-10 | |
v7n112p089 | 1939-12-10 | |
v7n113p109 | 1940-02-10 | |
v7n114p141 | 1940-04-10 | |
v7n115p161 | 1940-06-10 | |
v7n116/117p187 | 1940-08/1940-10 | |
v7n118/119p219 | 1940-12/1941-02 | |
v7n120/121p243 | 1941-04/1941-06 | |
v7n122/123p259 | 1941-08/1941-10 | |
v7n124/125p275 | 1941-12/1942-02 |
The BIH was located at Observatoire de Paris, and the events of World War 2 drastically altered the operations of BIH. Foreign postal service did not happen during the German occupation of Paris from 1940-06-14 to 1944-08-25. Nevertheless, the staff of the BIH maintained all of their local scientific activity despite the conditions in Paris. The calculation of Heure demi-définitive depended only on activity at Observatoire de Paris, and that activity continued without interruption. The calculation of Heure définitive required postal service from distant observatories to report their receptions of radio broadcast time signals. Thus it was not possible to determine values of Heure définitive during the war.
During the war the BIH produced a series of circulars containing tables of the clocks at Observatoire de Paris and the values of Heure demi-définitive determined from the reception of radio broadcast time signals. As with the earlier tomes (volumes) these circulars gave the dates they were prepared for typesetting, but the tables within them were for previous months. To the ongoing dismay of librarians trying to catalog Bulletin Horaire, and moreso to the dismay of readers hoping to make sense of the history of timekeeping in the 20th century, these wartime circulars were not individually numbered. Moreover, this wartime sequence of circulars gave no indication regarding a tome (volume) number for the collection of them all. This unnumbered series of circulars contained the tables of local clocks and Heure demi-définitive for the years 1942 through 1944. For reasons described in this document I deem that it makes sense to say that this unnumbered series of wartime circulars of Bulletin Horaire with Heure demi-définitive should be recognized as and called by the name "Series 1".
Subsequent to the war the BIH continued to publish circulars containing tables of Heure demi-définitive separate from circulars with Heure définitive. This separation of the tables of data allowed for the Heure demi-définitive to be published promptly because there was no need to wait for other observatories to send their reports of receptions of radio broadcast time signals. These prompt publications also included articles with news and changes in procedures that were important to distribute promptly to the other observatories participating in world-wide time services. The BIH did give names to the post-war collections of Bulletin Horaire circulars by calling them "Series". The immediate post-war collection of issues with tables of clocks at Observatoire de Paris and Heure demi-définitive was called series 2, and it covered years 1945 through 1950. Again unfortunately for librarians and researchers, the BIH did not give numbers to the individual circulars of Series 2.
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After the war many of the other observatories were eventually able to send their observations of radio broadcast time signals to BIH. As the data became complete for various time periods the BIH proceeded to compute Heure définitive. These tables of Heure définitive were published in circulars of Bulletin Horaire issued as "Series D". Series D contained Heure définitive for the years 1942 through 1950. The circulars in Series D also contained annual summaries comparing the performance of all of the participating time services. Unfortunately, the circulars of Series D were issued in a non-sequential fashion as the data for each interval became available and was eventually reduced. As a result, very few libraries have intact collections of the Bulletin Horaire circulars belonging to Series D.
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The pattern of numbered collections of circulars continued in subsequent publications of Bulletin Horaire. The circulars with tables of Heure demi-définitive were issued in Series 3, 4, 5, and 6 through the year 1964, and these were individually numbered. In addition to the tables of Heure demi-définitive and other timely articles these circulars also contained the Annual Reports of the BIH.
The pattern of lettered collections of circulars continued in subsequent publications of Bulletin Horaire. The circulars with tables of Heure définitive were issued in Series E, F, G, and H through the year 1963. The circulars with Heure définitive in the lettered series generally appeared about 8 months later than the corresponding circulars with Heure demi-définitive in the numbered series.
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Nicolas Stoyko had worked at BIH since 1924, and he was in charge of BIH in the early 1960s. His wife Anna Stoyko had worked at BIH since 1947. They both retired in 1965 March just after the BIH had defined coordinated Universal Time as a function of the atomic time scale being maintained at BIH. The next series of issues of Bulletin Horaire completely changed its format and was called "Series J" Initially the circulars of Bulletin Horare in Series J continued providing both Heure demi-définitive and Heure définitive as had been done since the era of pendulum clocks and time signals transmitted over radio along with Morse code. Soon Series J changed its format to provide tables of time service comparisons consistent with space-age telecommunications and atomic chronometers.
issue | date | synopsis |
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Series J (1964/1966) Series J is the first sequence of circulars entirely under the purview of Bernard Guinot. | ||
sJn01p01 | 1964-01/1964-02 Hd | first use of the term UTC |
sJn01p01r | 1964-09/1964-10 Hdd | |
sJn02p01 | 1964-03/1964-04 Hd | |
sJn02p01r | 1964-11/1964-12 Hdd | |
sJn03p01 | 1964-05/1964-06 Hd | |
sJn03p01r | 1965-01/1965-02 Hdd | |
sJn04p01 | 1964-07/1964-08 Hd | |
sJn04p01r | 1965-03/1965-04 Hdd | |
sJn05p01 | 1964-09/1964-10 Hd | |
sJn05p01r | 1965-05/1965-06 Hdd | |
sJn06p01 | 1964-11/1964-12 Hd | |
sJn06p01r | 1965-07/1965-08 Hdd | |
sJn07p01 | 1965-01/1965-02 Hd | |
sJn07p01r | 1965-09/1965-10 Hdd | |
sJn08p01 | 1965-03/1965-04 Hd | |
sJn08p01r | 1965-11/1965-12 Hdd | |
sJn09p01 | 1965-05/1965-06 Hd | |
sJn09p01r | 1966-01/1966-02 Hdd | |
sJn10p01 | 1965-07/1965-08 Hd | |
sJn10p01r | 1966-03/1966-04 Hdd | |
sJn11p01 | 1965-09/1965-10 Hd | |
sJn11p01r | 1966-05/1966-06 Hdd | |
sJn12p01 | 1965-11/1965-12 Hd | |
sJn12p01r | 1966-07/1966-08 Hdd | |
sJn13p01 | 1966-01/1966-02 Hd | |
sJn14p01 | 1966-03/1966-04 Hd | |
sJn15p01 | 1966-05/1966-06 Hd | |
sJn16p01 | 1966-07/1966-08 Hd | |
sJn17p01 | 1966-09/1966-10 Hd | |
sJn18p01 | 1966-11/1966-12 Hd |
BIH Bulletin Horaire ended with series J.
After that BIH produced the monthly Circular D with rapid
results and BIH Annual Report with full review of the data.
These continued through 1987 until the BIH was dismantled with its
earth rotation aspects going into the new IERS and its precision
timekeeping aspects going to the BIPM.