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Phy_enthusiast
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As Earth takes 365 days to revolve around sun then why are days grouped into 12 months and we don't have calendar that goes from1 to 365.
Is it not partly related to trying also to have some reference to the lunar cycle?Bandersnatch said:Days are grouped into 12 months because the Romans liked it that way. There is no other reason but historical circumstances.
Yes, you're right. It's true as far as the early roman calenar goes(the one with ten months in a year and a gap during winter).Phy_enthusiast said:I think it is not partly but fully related to lunar cycle...
Gerinski said:At any rate the question is relevant: with our current much more precise knowledge of the solar system's dynamics, couldn't we conceive of a more rational timing & calendar system? one which is much more regular (and hopefully decimal-based), not having hours of 60 minutes, days of 24 hours, months of different lengths, leap-years and all that b*t?
Have any proposals been made for a more rational timekeeping method?
phinds said:We DO have a calendar that goes from 1 to 365. It is called the Julian calendar. You can use it if you like. Good luck with that.
Integral said:In the US we cannot even convince people to use the metric system, you want to change the calendar! It can never happen. Just to much inertia and tradition and no real reason.
Gerinski said:At any rate the question is relevant: with our current much more precise knowledge of the solar system's dynamics, couldn't we conceive of a more rational timing & calendar system? one which is much more regular (and hopefully decimal-based), not having hours of 60 minutes, days of 24 hours, months of different lengths, leap-years and all that b*t?
Have any proposals been made for a more rational timekeeping method?
I guess we are forced to keep using the day-night cycle anyway, otherwise we would mess up with our circadian rhythm, and it is possible that the lunar cycle has biological implications too.Phy_enthusiast said:The time keeping method by lunar cycle is the gift of ancient civilisation (mainly indians), modern civilisation should infact find out new method based on modern physics and astronomy.
Phy_enthusiast said:The time keeping method by lunar cycle is the gift of ancient civilisation (mainly indians), modern civilisation should infact find out new method based on modern physics and astronomy.
Bobbywhy said:The US and England who remain in a daze
Confined to their islands immersed in a haze
At two ostriches the world continues to gaze
I believe you're still measuring the surface of a building in square feet, fuel consumption in miles per imperial gallon, and yards are still pretty much in use.AlephZero said:Not true so far as "England" is concerned (I assume you actually mean the UK).
Apart from a couple of things (pints of beer, and road distances and speed limits in miles) the UK has been using metric for decades.
But if course we still have to waste our time over engineering mixups with the US working in BTUs, kips, degrees F, etc, etc ...
Gerinski said:I believe you're still measuring the surface of a building in square feet, fuel consumption in miles per imperial gallon, and yards are still pretty much in use.
The 12-month calendar is based on the lunar cycle, where each month corresponds to a full lunar cycle. It was first introduced by the ancient Egyptians and later adopted by the Romans.
The ancient Egyptians observed the cycles of the moon, which takes about 29.5 days to complete. They divided the year into 12 months to correspond with the 12 lunar cycles, with an additional 5 days for religious observances.
Having 12 months in a year has been a longstanding tradition and has become deeply ingrained in many cultures. Adding a 13th month would require a major restructuring of the calendar system, which would be difficult to implement globally.
The 12-month calendar does not perfectly align with the Earth's orbit around the sun, which takes approximately 365.24 days. To adjust for this, we have leap years every 4 years to add an extra day in February.
Yes, there are several calendar systems that use a different number of months. For example, the Chinese calendar has 12 months, but occasionally adds a 13th month to keep the calendar aligned with the solar year. The Islamic calendar has 12 months, but they are based on the lunar cycle and therefore do not align with the solar year.