----- Original Message ----- From: "N. J. A. Sloane" <njas@research.att.com> To: <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com>; <math-fun@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 6:48 PM Subject: Re: 20 Nov 2002: (was [math-fun] 20/11/02)
I like the proposal made in the book "The Clock of the Long Now" that years should be written with 5 digits (02002 etc) to encourage people to think about the long-term rather than the short-term.
Neil Sloane
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That is not long-term enough. A proper system would put an unambiguous number on all times from the Big Bang to the slightly uncertain end of the Universe as we know it. I therefore propose a Julian-day-type system whereby each day is given a 14-digit number (rising to 15, 16, ...). Of course since day length varies, some terms for correction would be added. And within each day, I suggest that the time be counted in femtoseconds from midnight, resulting in a 20-digit number. So right now, for example, would be known as 63478920666523.745372555285332573966 wait, 967, hold it, 968.,,,oh, you get the idea.. These ideas will cause a great and long overdue coming together of science and everyday life and will lead to a huge increase in funding. Or shooting of scientists.