The perpetual calendar
in [Physics]
|
Prev: simple question power, resistance, current, etc
Next: OBSERVATIONS: Einstein's gravitational redshift measured with unprecedented precision
From: Brian M. Scott on 21 Feb 2010 17:05 On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:16:33 -0800 (PST), Andrew Usher <k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote in <news:b4f5113c-dd5f-4315-b72c-0ec03d2fda31(a)15g2000yqa.googlegroups.com> in sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.lang,alt.usage.english: > Brian M. Scott wrote: >>>>> And the first day of the week is Sunday, not Monday - that >>>>> is an incontrovertible fact. >>>> Don't be ridiculous: it's merely a convention. For many of >>>> us Monday is unquestionably the first day of the week. >>> It's historically true. No one questioned it before modern times. >> Apparently you're not familiar with the Slavic and Baltic >> day-names. For that matter, Sunday is the first day in >> Jewish tradition for the same reason that Monday is the >> first day for many of us today. > The Slavic and Baltic day names come from Greek tradition You're mistaken. The Greek names for Monday through Thursday are <Δευτέρα>, <Τρίτη>, <Τετάρτη>, and <Πέμπτη>, essentially 'second', 'third', 'fourth', and 'fifth', a numbering making Sunday the first day; the Russian names for Tuesday through Friday are <вторник>, <среда>, <четверг>, and <пятница>, essentially 'second', 'middle', 'fourth', and 'fifth', a numbering making Monday the first day. The only Slavic name borrowed from Greek is the name for Saturday, Russian <суббота>. > (itself aberrant), Hardly. [...] Brian
From: Brian M. Scott on 21 Feb 2010 17:07 On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:19:05 -0800 (PST), Andrew Usher <k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote in <news:072952ac-e19e-42e5-b56b-360c88f55bdc(a)b7g2000yqd.googlegroups.com> in sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.lang,alt.usage.english: > Brian M. Scott wrote: >>>>>> And trying to come up with a new calendar fixating on >>>>>> Christmas is about as logical as fixating on Waitangi >>>>>> Day. >>>>> This is just West-bashing. >>>> Don't be silly: New Zealand is part of the cultural west. >>> But what the day commemorates is not. >> You should have checked to see what it actually does >> commemorate before posting such nonsense. > As far as I know, it's used today as just another excuse > for white guilt. [...] It isn't apparent that your knowledge extends very far.
From: Skitt on 21 Feb 2010 17:28 Brian M. Scott wrote: > Andrew Usher wrote: >> Brian M. Scott wrote: >>>>>> And the first day of the week is Sunday, not Monday - that >>>>>> is an incontrovertible fact. > >>>>> Don't be ridiculous: it's merely a convention. For many of >>>>> us Monday is unquestionably the first day of the week. > >>>> It's historically true. No one questioned it before modern times. > >>> Apparently you're not familiar with the Slavic and Baltic >>> day-names. For that matter, Sunday is the first day in >>> Jewish tradition for the same reason that Monday is the >>> first day for many of us today. > >> The Slavic and Baltic day names come from Greek tradition > > You're mistaken. The Greek names for Monday through > Thursday are <Δευτέρα>, <Τρίτη>, <Τετάρτη>, and <Πέμπτη>, > essentially 'second', 'third', 'fourth', and 'fifth', a > numbering making Sunday the first day; the Russian names for > Tuesday through Friday are <вторник>, <среда>, <четверг>, > and <пятница>, essentially 'second', 'middle', 'fourth', and > 'fifth', a numbering making Monday the first day. The only > Slavic name borrowed from Greek is the name for Saturday, > Russian <суббота>. In Latvian, the days from Monday to Sunday are: pirmdiena (first day) otrdiena (second day) trešdiena (third day) ceturtdiena (fourth day) piektdiena (fifth day) sestdiena (sixth day) svētdiena (holy day) -- Skitt (AmE)
From: Brian M. Scott on 21 Feb 2010 17:39 On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:55:55 -0000, Androcles <Headmaster(a)Hogwarts.physics_u> wrote in <news:nCdgn.32414$w%5.25344(a)newsfe07.ams2> in sci.math,sci.physics,sci.astro,sci.lang: > "Mike Dworetsky" <platinum198(a)pants.btinternet.com> wrote in message > news:ZNSdndr0967FqBzWnZ2dnUVZ8rednZ2d(a)bt.com... [...] >> What precession does, as you point out, is cause the >> position of the First Point of Aries to move along the >> Ecliptic, gradually shifting among the background >> stars. But this has no effect on seasons or calendar; >> it simply affects which stars and constellations are >> seen during various seasons. Orion is a winter >> constellation now, but 12,500 years hence it will be a >> summer constellation (in the northern hemisphere). > "Simply affects" isn't that simple. > September, October, November and December are literally > the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months. July was > named for Julius Caesar and August for Augustus Kaiser, > they aspired to godhood. The earlier months of the year > had earlier origins for their names. The winter solstice > marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next > when man moved north as the ice cap retreated 12,500 > years ago and got his calendar out of step with the > Mediterranean peoples, and that was because he was less > concerned with the zodiac (which dipped below the > horizon) and more concerned with the polar sky overheard. [...] > A man looks at the horizon watching the sun set behind the > hill sees a constellation in its place. That tells him > what month it is, gives him an idea of when his > just-conceived wife will give birth to his son. Solstice > moves through the zodiac too and that is why the tenth > month of December is the twelfth month. [...] It is not. Numa Pompilius was supposed to have reformed the calendar around 700 BCE to make Ianuarius the first month of the Roman civil year and December the eleventh (followed by Februarius). He's legendary, but there's no doubt that an order with Ianuarius first is old. And the modern order, with Ianuarius first and December last, predates the Julian reform (as may be seen at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman-calendar.png>), possibly by several centuries. [...]
From: jimp on 21 Feb 2010 17:57
In sci.physics Andrew Usher <k_over_hbarc(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Brian M. Scott wrote: > >> >>>> And trying to come up with a new calendar fixating on >> >>>> Christmas is about as logical as fixating on Waitangi >> >>>> Day. >> >> >>> This is just West-bashing. >> >> >> Don't be silly: New Zealand is part of the cultural west. >> >> > But what the day commemorates is not. >> >> You should have checked to see what it actually does >> commemorate before posting such nonsense. > > As far as I know, it's used today as just another excuse for white > guilt. It hasn't been continuously observed since the event itself, > like out July 4 has been. Nonsense, execpt for "As far as I know", which is apparantly not far. > And even if I'm wrong, it's no more important than July 4, and I don't > base my calendar around that, either. I chose the Christian holidays > because they are international, and fitting other US days is a bonus. > > Andrew Usher Yeah, they celebrate lots of Christian holidays in China, Japan, India, Korea, and the Middle East. -- Jim Pennino Remove .spam.sux to reply. |