Frank, you ask, "Now just what was it that was going on 2011 years ago?"
Isn't the correct answer, "Not a whole lot! Jesus was only 7 years old..." Rejoice in the return of the Sun! Blessed be... Dave -----Original Message----- From: sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de [mailto:sundial-boun...@uni-koeln.de] On Behalf Of Frank King Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2011 1:41 AM To: Mac Oglesby Cc: sund...@rrz.uni-koeln.de Subject: Re: Proceedings for Future of UTC meeting Dear Mac, You say: > May I ask a stupid question? They are often the best. Remember the recent thread started by someone who thought it wrong to imagine that the sun moved across the sky? [I didn't respond to that one, but insisting that the sun stays in the same place would mean you couldn't say "Oh, what a beautiful sunset." You would have to say "Oh, look at that beautiful horizon-rise" instead!] > What was wrong with AD and BC? There are strange people who seem to suffer an attack of the vapours when they come across anything hinting at religion. This pretty much rules out studying a good many subjects. You can't study architecture, astronomy and certainly sundials for very long without coming across Egyptian gods, Greek gods, Roman gods, Christian practices, Muslim practices and all the rest. In the case of AD there is the additional problem that it stands for two Latin words and other strange people think that using a dead language isn't user-friendly. They won't get far studying the history of science either! Happily, Latin isn't quite dead. I am one of 40 or so people in my neck of the woods who is actually paid to declaim Latin in public (loudly and with enthusiasm!). Enjoy your 2011 Christmas. Now just what was it that was going on 2011 years ago? Frank King Cambridge, U.K. --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
