The empirical programme suggested by Newton is a bit like the Brexit process as nobody wants to own the overreaching decision to act in a certain way, at first it seemed like a great idea and pursued with enthusiasm but eventually has been exposed as not been well thought out and ultimately highly destructive.

In this respect it is best, in my opinion, to deal with the issues openly whether the academics inside the walls of their universities and organizations wish to play ball or not. The academic followers here will do what they do with their stock characters, phrases and slogans however the cracks are big enough that nothing can save the mess other than to show what went wrong and where.

Having moved on to creative and productive astronomy, the forensics of empirical theory applied to observations look quaint nowadays and even if the promoters try to keep the who thing moving the whole thing looks strained and contrived with no real public interest.

Timekeeping and how it refers to the planet's motions and external observations can be intricate but not intricate enough that researchers would lose the most basic experience in all astronomy - that each day/night cycle sitting within the 24 hour day is anything other than one rotation of the planet and they never fall out of sync !.