Throughout most of the historyhumanity's outstanding physicists and philosophers have tried to comprehend time. However, it was not completely understood by the phenomenon. And humanity, instead of understanding its nature, has learned at least to measure it. How does time count, from what point it is conducted and in what order? Let's find out more about this.
What is time
Before you deal with the measurementtemporality, it is worth refreshing your knowledge about this concept. A time is a measure of the duration of the existence of all objects and beings in the universe from the moment of their appearance to extinction. In fact, this concept is a kind of marker for defining events.
In classical physics, there is such a concept as the "axis of time". In it, this phenomenon is viewed as a one-dimensional straight line, moving from the past, through the present, into the future.
It is commonly believed that the very concept of "time" arose at the time of the birth of the universe, as a result of the Big Bang. To refute or confirm this assumption is not yet possible.
Time properties
Like any quantity, this has special properties:
- One-dimensionality.
- Необратимость.In other words, time does not just move in a straight line, but it does it only in one direction (from the past to the future). If we take 2 arbitrary points on the temporal axis, then one will necessarily be future with respect to the other. And that, in turn, will be for the first past.
- Uniformity.It is the equality of every moment. The so-called initial longing for timing is just a convention. Since practically from any event it is possible to start a new temporal calculus.
- Объективность.Time exists, regardless of a person's consciousness and from his acceptance of this phenomenon. It's like the law of World gravitation: although for many centuries mankind did not know about its existence, he still continued to act.
- Universality. There can be nothing existing outside of time.
What is called a countdown
Despite the fact that the phenomenon under consideration has uniformity, throughout the history of the world, people have tried to find a way to learn how to count it.
The fact is that each civilization in a certainmoment of existence noticed a change of seasons. For the sake of survival, its representatives were faced with the need to learn how to calculate the arrival of favorable and unfavorable periods of time in order to make advance reserves and not die of hunger and cold. So there was a chronology.
Calendar, its types and history
This word from different nations looked andwas written in different ways. However, its meaning has always been one. A calendar is a kind of system (order) for counting large periods of time. It all started small.
The first repeating loop that noticedman - it was the change of day and night - day. It was gradually noted that the moon goes through all phases at regular intervals. A little later, people noticed that after 12 moons the seasons are repeated, that is, a year passes. Based on these observations, the lunar calendar was invented. According to him, the year consisted of 354 days.
Unfortunately, this order of reference is largeThe time intervals did not coincide with the solar year. Therefore, the nations that used it had to go for various tricks to correct inaccuracies. For example, the Romans once every 3 years inserted an additional month - marcedony.
In some modern countries, calendars based on the lunar are still used.
The people of ancient Egypt, worshiping the god of the sunRa, based his chronology on the movement not of the moon, but of the sun. However, such a system was also far from perfect, since the number of days per year exceeded 365. In later epochs (when the country was alternately under the rule of the Greeks, then the Romans), the new owners of the state tried to introduce amendments to the Egyptian solar calendar, but they and not caught on.
The Greeks had a special order of reference for largeintervals of time. It was called Metonov cycle and lasted for 19 years. This system, developed by the astronomer Meton in the 5th century. BC e., took into account the movement and the Sun and the Moon. Despite its complexity, it was quite accurate and progressive for its time. It is worth noting that the Jewish people still use it. In addition, the time of Easter of Christ is calculated annually on this principle.
The Romans, who bestowed their whole Christian worldthe chronology system initially had a very inconsistent calendar consisting of 10 months. However, Julius Caesar reformed it and introduced a new reference system of years. After the emperor's death, his followers got a little confused in the new calendar, which is why it accumulated more leap years by 4 leap years, and Octavian Augustus had to cancel them for 16 years.
After Christianity became the main religion of Rome, with its spread throughout the world, many countries switched to the Julian calendar.
That's just it was not perfect, and throughseveral centuries of confusion with leap years led to the fact that the actual time interval between the spring equinoxes (for them the year was considered) did not coincide with the calendar one.
In this regard, the head of the Catholic Church PopeGregory XIII in 1582 together with the mathematician Aloysius Lilius created a new system of chronology, which is used by the entire civilized world today.
Chronology
The countdown of large periods of timeinherently associated with such a concept as chronology. It is derived from the Greek phrase “teaching about time” (from the words “chronos” and “logos”). From its etymology it is clear that this science specializes in the study of time and methods of its measurement. It is divided into 3 types:
- Astronomical. Specializes in studying the motion of celestial bodies. On the basis of its cyclicality, it helps to calculate the exact astronomical time.
- Historical.Unlike the previous one (which is aimed at establishing the exact time), this one is concentrated on studying the calendars and systems of chronology of various civilizations and states. It also helps to synchronize the chronologies of different nations in order to know exactly when this or that important event happened.
- Геохронология.Studies time as geological rocks of the Earth. This industry has its own geochronological timeline. The starting point of time on it is the moment of the formation of our planet, about 4.6 billion years ago.
Time reference
Since every great civilization hadown calendar and calendar, you should pay attention to the beginning of its countdown. Although in practice time is a homogeneous phenomenon, in each system of its reference a proper starting point was chosen.
The Egyptians had their chronology from the beginning.rule of the next pharaoh or the whole dynasty. In the Roman state, the starting point was the date Rome was founded. In the modern world, most of the chronological systems are based on some important religious events. For example, Christianity is the supposed date of birth of Christ, Muslims have the time of the transition of Prophet Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, Buddhists have the time of Buddha’s death, and Jews have the moment of the creation of the world (in their opinion).
Minimum calendar intervals: day, week, month
Having dealt with the starting points of chronology counting, it is worth considering the most important units used by all of them.
The minimum amount of time used duringAll calendar reference systems are day (day and night, last 24 hours). By this concept is meant the period of a complete revolution of the Earth around its own axis.
Further on the basis of this unit are formedof the week. In the modern world they last for 7 days. However, this has not always been the case in the past. For example, among the Slavs this period was 9 days, and in the period of the USSR - 5, and sometimes 6 days.
In the ancient Egyptians, the week consisted of 10 days, and in the Maya - of 13 (sometimes out of 20).
The next in ascending order is the month.Initially, it was the period when the Moon passed a full circle around the Earth. However, today it does not necessarily coincide, at least in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Quarter, season
Months are impoverished in seasons and quarters.Each season (it is the season) consists of 3 calendar months. There are 4 of them: winter, spring, summer and autumn. The quarter also consists of 3 months, but they are not calculated according to the seasons, but strictly according to the calendar. This unit is allocated to make it easier to issue reporting documentation.
Year and its varieties
Months, quarters and seasons make up the year. This is the first large period of time during which the Earth makes a full revolution around the sun. It consists of 12 months, 4 seasons or quarters.
The traditional Christian year consists of 365 days, but every 4th is a leap year, and it has 366 days. In the Jewish and Islamic calendars it consists of 355 days.
Also, we should not forget about such a concept as the school year. This is a period of 9 months, during which classes are conducted in schools.
Century, millennium, mega-cities and gigodas
100 years form a century or a century. This is one of the largest periods of time in relation to man, since only a few are able to live so much.
The Millennium consists of 1000 years, or 10 centuries.
It is also worth knowing how the gap is called.time is the largest regarding chronology. This is a gigoda, it consists of 1,000,000,000 years. In addition, the intermediate unit stands out - megapods (1,000,000 years).
Megagodes and gigods in historical chronology are not used, since at the moment there is no evidence of the existence of intelligent life in these periods. However, they are important for geochronology.
