"Put three grains of sand inside a vast cathedral, and the cathedral will be more closely packed with sand than space is with stars." Sir James Jeans
I love this quote. It gives me a sense of how infinite space is. I've been reflecting quite a bit lately about the infinite nature of time and space and just how fleeting (and very special) our lives are within it.
For fun, I did some calculations (with the help of the web!) to get some perspective on these things and found the results truly fascinating.
Perspective on time
The earth is 4.5 billion years old. But let's say that the earth began only 1 year ago. This is when other things would have begun:
- The universe began — 3 years ago
- Earth formed — 1 year ago
- First single-celled organisms — 297 days ago
- First jellyfish — 41 days ago
- First dinosaurs — 18 days ago
- Dinosaurs became extinct — 5 days ago
- Earliest members of genus Homo — 5½ hours ago
- Civilisation began — 40 seconds ago
- The wheel was invented — 38 seconds ago
- Jesus was born — 14 seconds ago
- The Battle of Hastings — 7 seconds ago
- The French Revolution — 2 seconds ago
Perspective on space
In reality, the earth is 93 million miles from the sun. But let's say it was just 1 cm.
This would mean the distance of other things to the sun was:
- Mercury — 10.39 cm
- Earth — 11.00 cm
- Jupiter — 15.20 cm
- Uranus — 119.20 cm
- Pluto — 139.5 cm
- Proxima Centauri — 12.69 km
If you tried to map out our tiny galaxy, you would need a piece of paper 14 times the width of the continental United States, or one and a half times around the Earth.
I find these figures startling and inspiring. Something to reflect on next time I find myself getting too wrapped up in the drama of my tiny life. Next time I fret about something, I'll ask myself "Is this likely to change the evolution of the human race in the next 5 billion years" - and if the answer is no, tell myself to forget it!!
