Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Story
Of Time
Nita Berry
Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769-1821)
Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)
Solar System
jS?.
>
20
Early telescope
33
Soon the
shadow lei
had movec
Early man i
every now,
Why could
He grumbl
moved half
its shadow,
keptmovin
creature...h<
was that it ^
Much, n
whenever s<
a shadow w
not a creatu
all had shad
that when h
a shadow o:
walked, anc
He realizec
because he:
looked at th(
times of the
remained t
morning, wh
long his sha
shorter as th
the evening,
dipped towc
The direct
the directior
now that s
opposite to
length of th<
which the s
sun changes
the directioi
keep chang
that time, t
things as w<
He thou
experiment
ground, he 1
shrank in tin
round the t
sun moved
began to gh
of the day.
firmly stud
out in the o
its shadow \
sun. He ma
cast by the
placed arou
markings tl
that every <
shadow fell
' Withprac
could judge
noting the
Earlier, he
and sunset
directly at t
Cleopatra's needle
A sundial
43
A sundial
>
Water-clocks
Plato
(427? 347 B.C.)
A water-clock
A sandglass
Sandglass/hourglass
Christopher Columbus
(1451-1506)
Candlestick clockcandle is
marked in hours
AUtl
Garden sundial
Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642)
I
v ;;
German
rack
clock
German
novelty
clock
Rolling clock
from the 17th century
Portable clock
Pocket watch
Grandfather clock
Cuckoo clock
65
Time Moves On
Industrialization, which began in the
eighteenth century, changed the face of the
globe. With the use of new materials like iron
and steel, new energy sources, and the
invention of many remarkable machines that
increased production, the world became a
much more complex place.
Suddenly, old leisurely ways of life were
gone. Important developments in transport
and communication like the steamship, the
automobile, the airplane, radio and telegraph
made it more urgent than ever to live life
according to the clock.
All this while, the clock had been used for
the most ordinary purposeslike getting to
school or to work on time, or catching a train.
It did not need to be accurate to within more
than half a minute or so for these everyday things.
John Harrison
(1693-1776)
Chronometer
An atomic clock
73
A Calendar
Julius Caesar
(100 B.C.-44 B.C.)
Mayan calendar
Janus
Astronomical
years
Gregorian
years
86
Charles X
(1759-1836)
Charlemagne of France
(742-814)
97
when you make out your next party invitations. Remember the minutes follow the hours.
0100 hrs.
0200 hrs.
0300 hrs.
0400 hrs.
0500 hrs.
0600 hrs.
0700 hrs.
0800 hrs.
0900 hrs.
1000 hrs.
1100 hrs.
1200 hrs.
1 a.m.
2 a.m.
3 a.m.
4 a.m.
5 a.m.
6 a.m.
7 a.m.
8 a.m.
9 a.m.
10 a.m.
11 a.m.
12 a.m.
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
106
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
hrs.
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
3 p.m.
4 p.m.
5 p.m.
6 p.m.
7 p.m.
8 p.m.
9 p.m.
10 p.m.
11 p.m.
12 p.m.
Kaalachakra
"The wheel of time (kaalachakra) rotates
eternally through the four ages on earth..."
These four ages or yugas were called satyuga,
tretayuga, dvaparayuga and kaliyuga, the
present age. The kali era is supposed to be the
most decadent period in the system of four
yugas, and is believed to have begun on the
dawn of February 18,3102 B.C.
Our own ancestors in India were deep
thinkers and learned men. Even a long, long
time ago, when the Western civilization was
still very primitive, our philosophers had
evolved their own scientific calculations and
theories. Their profound wisdom and
knowledge is reflected in the rich literature of
our pastin ancient texts like the Vedas and
the Pur anas.
Here, one can read interesting accounts of
the creation of the universe and the beginning
107
I am Time.
Bhagavad
Gita
Chapter 10, 30
Summer
Autumn
Spring
Brahma
Vishnu
Mahesh
Jaipur observatory
113
No Beginning, No End
Man has come on an amazing journey
from the distant shadow clock to the atomic
clock of today, accurate to a millionth of a
second! He has indeed triumphed oyer the
measurement of time. You must remember
however, that all these comprise earth
measurements. Time counts in the universe are
vast and quite different.
Suppose you had a Martian friend who was
born on the same day as you, and you are
twelve years old today. How old would he be?
Twelve years old, of course, you would say; and
according to the time reckoning on the earth,
you would be quite right. But on Mars,
conditions would differ.
You saw how an earth year of 365 days is
measured by our journey round the sun. A
picture of the solar system will show that the
nine planets revolve in varying distances
114
vho was
you are
dhebe?
say; and
te earth,
i Mars,
days is
! sun. A
that the
[stances
Subrahamanyan Chandrasekhar
(1910-1995)
Black hole
Spaceship
127
E 377
ISBN 81-7011-891-3