The Calendar

Kara Byers 1CH tutor: Dr. Gerard McCartan Our View of the Universe ‘It took several thousand years to establish a satisfactory calendar. Even in this century not all the countries in Europe kept the same calendar. Why was it so difficult? Do we really need an accurate means of recording civil time? Astronomy originated earlier in human history than the other natural sciences. In the earliest civilisations, the divine or occult was used to explain …

…order to maintain order and function in our society. What is required is a calendar which maintains a close approximation to its astronomical basis, and which is repeated in a stable, uniform, simple and regular order. The present calendar amply fulfils these requirements. Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY The Calendar. Its history, structure and improvement Cambridge University press, 1921. A. Philip Time’s alteration UCL Press Limited 1998. R. Poole The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology Fontana, 1994. J. North