29 and Leap Years - Numberphile
video description
The two problems the current calendar has is:
1) February is too short. The calendar should alternate between 30 days and 31 with the last month of the year breaking the pattern except on leap years.
2) The calendar should start either at the Winter Solstice or the Spring Equinox. The way it's currently set up January 1st has neither scientific nor religious significance.
The way it should go is January has 30 days, with January 1st moving back to what is currently December 21st or 22nd (depending on which year the calendar is changed, February 31 days, March 30, April 31, May 30, June 31, July 30, August 31, September 30, October 31, November 30, December 30 (except on leap years when it's 31.
Also if you don't leave the month naming/ordering intact you might want to move October to be the actual 8th month.
Date: 2022-04-08
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Comments and reviews: 9
Litigious
The purpose of the correction is not to sync up the length of a calendar year with one orbit around the sun, it's to prevent the seasons from drifting through the calendar. Prior to the Gregorian calendar, the seasons were just slowly drifting, and they got about ten days ahead after more than a thousand years due to observing leap years in years like 1100 and 1300. If it had it not been for the fact that they wanted to keep the calendar in sync with archaeological and historical precedent, then it wouldn't have mattered, and people would just be used to the summer solstice being in the first week of June now instead of the third week. In fact, I think it would be much more interesting to be able to experience the drift, and see buildings and old stone calendars that mark the wrong dates, so people could literally watch the change with the passing of time. It could also have been an interesting historical event each time a solstice or equinox occurred for the first time a day earlier than ever recorded.
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The purpose of the correction is not to sync up the length of a calendar year with one orbit around the sun, it's to prevent the seasons from drifting through the calendar. Prior to the Gregorian calendar, the seasons were just slowly drifting, and they got about ten days ahead after more than a thousand years due to observing leap years in years like 1100 and 1300. If it had it not been for the fact that they wanted to keep the calendar in sync with archaeological and historical precedent, then it wouldn't have mattered, and people would just be used to the summer solstice being in the first week of June now instead of the third week. In fact, I think it would be much more interesting to be able to experience the drift, and see buildings and old stone calendars that mark the wrong dates, so people could literally watch the change with the passing of time. It could also have been an interesting historical event each time a solstice or equinox occurred for the first time a day earlier than ever recorded.
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John
I'm sorry I really didn't understood why is it so important to be soooo accurate?
well after 4000 years if non leap years would take a day away yes new year would not start on winter but summer but well over generations people would get used to that.
would you care if your grand grand grand grand grand parents would heaving new year on winter and you would on summer? or would you get used to it in merely 80 years of living
it wouldn't change much you would still be experiencing same thing
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I'm sorry I really didn't understood why is it so important to be soooo accurate?
well after 4000 years if non leap years would take a day away yes new year would not start on winter but summer but well over generations people would get used to that.
would you care if your grand grand grand grand grand parents would heaving new year on winter and you would on summer? or would you get used to it in merely 80 years of living
it wouldn't change much you would still be experiencing same thing
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3snoW
One curiosity:
Actually, the second originally comes from 1/3600 of an hour, and the meter was defined as a portion of the earth's meridian along a quadrant. Then we found out better ways to measure things, and the second was redefined as what you said, and the meter was redefined as 1/299792458 of the distance light travels in one second. Also, the kilogram is one of the few (if not the only) SI unit that still has an old definition, which is the weight of the International prototype kilogram.
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One curiosity:
Actually, the second originally comes from 1/3600 of an hour, and the meter was defined as a portion of the earth's meridian along a quadrant. Then we found out better ways to measure things, and the second was redefined as what you said, and the meter was redefined as 1/299792458 of the distance light travels in one second. Also, the kilogram is one of the few (if not the only) SI unit that still has an old definition, which is the weight of the International prototype kilogram.
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Vincent
Not quite. The second is a very arbitrary length of time which was decided on eons ago without a real connection to the world (there is nothing special about 1/86400th of a day. The very definition of the second (too vague) was making it impossible to get super accurate measurements so we needed something better. Since the frequency of the Cesium atom radiation is so exquisitely constant, we use it as reference and use 9162631770 times it since it matches our previous definition of 1 second.
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Not quite. The second is a very arbitrary length of time which was decided on eons ago without a real connection to the world (there is nothing special about 1/86400th of a day. The very definition of the second (too vague) was making it impossible to get super accurate measurements so we needed something better. Since the frequency of the Cesium atom radiation is so exquisitely constant, we use it as reference and use 9162631770 times it since it matches our previous definition of 1 second.
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---
While I see your logic, it is not like the seasons are exactly three months. In my home country, depending on the year it could very well be winter for 6 months, but here in Japan I'd say winter is rather 2 months.
And regarding school, you are forgetting that you have vacation: In my home country we have 2 semesters, about 4 and 5 months long, so it's not really a perfect 6/6 slice. In Japan we're we have trimester we have 4+4+2.
And superstition has nothing to do with science. ; )
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While I see your logic, it is not like the seasons are exactly three months. In my home country, depending on the year it could very well be winter for 6 months, but here in Japan I'd say winter is rather 2 months.
And regarding school, you are forgetting that you have vacation: In my home country we have 2 semesters, about 4 and 5 months long, so it's not really a perfect 6/6 slice. In Japan we're we have trimester we have 4+4+2.
And superstition has nothing to do with science. ; )
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Romit
When i used 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds like it says in the video and calculated the magical 4, 100, and 400 years where you need to either add a day or ignore the leap year, it works perfectly. Then i though lets try the 3200 year one she talked about after 400 but didnt specify whether you add a day or ignore it. I found that 3200 years was actually unnecessary but actually you would want to add a day after 21600 years! Can someone reassure me by checking this?
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When i used 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds like it says in the video and calculated the magical 4, 100, and 400 years where you need to either add a day or ignore the leap year, it works perfectly. Then i though lets try the 3200 year one she talked about after 400 but didnt specify whether you add a day or ignore it. I found that 3200 years was actually unnecessary but actually you would want to add a day after 21600 years! Can someone reassure me by checking this?
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John
oh but IF it does matter don't forget ns (nano seconds. And when we came to nano seconds don't forget we aint living on STATIC but dinamic universe so every year it'll change for a little tiny bit
and if an asteroid crashes on earth even if it's very small the earth will change for a little tiny piece.
OFC over the years that nano second will grow up, .
I'm just asking my self is the accuracy really that important?
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oh but IF it does matter don't forget ns (nano seconds. And when we came to nano seconds don't forget we aint living on STATIC but dinamic universe so every year it'll change for a little tiny bit
and if an asteroid crashes on earth even if it's very small the earth will change for a little tiny piece.
OFC over the years that nano second will grow up, .
I'm just asking my self is the accuracy really that important?
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WereDictionary
I figure that 12 months work out better if you want to divite the year into equal parts. A year has 4 seasons of 3 months each, or if you go to school you have 2 semesters of 6 months or 3 trimesters of 4 months.
This doesnt work out so well with 13 months.
If you want to drift off into number psychology, the fact that 13 was seen as a bad omen might have contributed to the decision to keep 12 months.
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I figure that 12 months work out better if you want to divite the year into equal parts. A year has 4 seasons of 3 months each, or if you go to school you have 2 semesters of 6 months or 3 trimesters of 4 months.
This doesnt work out so well with 13 months.
If you want to drift off into number psychology, the fact that 13 was seen as a bad omen might have contributed to the decision to keep 12 months.
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Bach
Under the International System of Units (via the International Committee for Weights and Measures, or CIPM, since 1967 the second has been defined as the duration of 9, 192, 631, 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom
#class of 1966
#course 18 bed talk
#failed attempt to humanize maths by another mathematician
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Under the International System of Units (via the International Committee for Weights and Measures, or CIPM, since 1967 the second has been defined as the duration of 9, 192, 631, 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom
#class of 1966
#course 18 bed talk
#failed attempt to humanize maths by another mathematician
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