Space
Seven steps each ten million to one
Describe the whole space dimension
The Atom, Cell’s girth
Our bodies, the Earth
Sun’s System, our Galaxy – done!
Time
The Creator, seen as Army Sergeant Major, barks out his order for the week.
First thing on Monday morning, Bang!, Light
Sun and Earth, form up, Friday night
At a minute to twelve
Eve spin, Adam delve
In the last millisecond, You, right?
Speed
A child cycles ‘round the schoolyard
Which lies on the Earth turning hard
The Earth rounds the Sun
As Sol does “the ton”
And our Galaxy flies – Gee! I’m tired
– Tim Rowett, Three Limericks – On Space, Time and Speed
Note:
Space
10⁻¹⁴ m : Atomic nucleus
10⁻⁷ m : Cellular nucleus
10⁰ m : Human body
10⁷ m : Earth's diameter
10¹⁴ m : outer Solar System
10²¹ m : Galaxy's diameter
10²⁸ m : Universe, and a bit more
Time
A week is 7 days,
Each day 2 billion years
A minute is 2 million years
A millisecond is 23 years
Speed
7 mph : A child cyclist
700 mph : Earth's rotation speed
70,000 mph : Earth's revolution speed
700,000 mph : Galaxy's turning speed
1,400,000 mph : Galaxy's speed through debris of Big Bang
I think it's really amazing that if you downscale the age of the Universe to one week, then we humans would only occupy the last minute of it (and of course Earth itself only formed on "Friday night").
Such displays of logarithmic leaps never cease to amaze. And of course, if we are talking about space dimension, the classic documentary Powers of Ten (directed by Ray and Charles Eames) comes to mind. Even though it was produced back in 1977, it is still a wonderful sight to behold. This is so famous that one of The Simpsons' episodes featured a parody of it. Sadly, it has already been removed from YouTube because of copyright issue.
Space
10⁻¹⁴ m : Atomic nucleus
10⁻⁷ m : Cellular nucleus
10⁰ m : Human body
10⁷ m : Earth's diameter
10¹⁴ m : outer Solar System
10²¹ m : Galaxy's diameter
10²⁸ m : Universe, and a bit more
Time
A week is 7 days,
Each day 2 billion years
A minute is 2 million years
A millisecond is 23 years
Speed
7 mph : A child cyclist
700 mph : Earth's rotation speed
70,000 mph : Earth's revolution speed
700,000 mph : Galaxy's turning speed
1,400,000 mph : Galaxy's speed through debris of Big Bang
I think it's really amazing that if you downscale the age of the Universe to one week, then we humans would only occupy the last minute of it (and of course Earth itself only formed on "Friday night").
Such displays of logarithmic leaps never cease to amaze. And of course, if we are talking about space dimension, the classic documentary Powers of Ten (directed by Ray and Charles Eames) comes to mind. Even though it was produced back in 1977, it is still a wonderful sight to behold. This is so famous that one of The Simpsons' episodes featured a parody of it. Sadly, it has already been removed from YouTube because of copyright issue.
Again, we are reminded of the very long scale of space, time and speed; and our tiny, insignificant place in it.
2 comments:
==rexy==
I wonder wad they refer to here...i mean 1m, 10m and so on...they are talking about the length or the radius (which is not apt for the square unless they are referring to the circle encompasses all the four vertixes...commenting from changi airport=)
They are referring to the length of the side of the square.
If you watch again closely you will notice that the narrator says in the beginning:
"This square is 1 m wide..." and so on.
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