Hi Marcus: A laudable idea! Proposing to create more confusion to divide the 'sky' into 13 zones of varying durations (Kepler's Laws) to locate and co-relate whare we stand in the universe? Brij Bhushan Vij
>From: "Ma Be" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [USMA:21729] Re: calendar reform >Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 09:01:12 -0700 > >On Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:05:30 > Tom Wade VMS Systems wrote: > > > >>The only real issue would be how to tackle the leap year problem. > >>I'd be happy to consider proposals for this. > > > >The most sensible idea I've heard for this was proposed by the late Dr >Isaac > >Asimov. > > > >A year consists of 13 months, each with 28 days. Each month has 4 weeks >of > >7 days each, using the familiar day names. This makes 364 days. The >extra day > >is designated 'year day', which does not belong to any month, nor does it > >have a 'normal' day name (Mon, Tue etc). It follows the 28th day of the >13th > >month. > > > >The extra day for the leap year is 'leap day', and also does not belong >to any > >particular month or traditional day name. It follows year day in those >years > >designated as leap years. > > >This is really a remarkable proposal! If it were not for its non-decimal >nature I'd support it enthusiastically myself as it is indeed a great idea. > > >The advantages of this system: > > > >1. All months are of equal length. > >Granted. But the fact that there would be a prime number of months would >constitute a significant problem, especially for the financial world. > > >2. A particular date fall on the same day every year. > >True. I'm not sure though whether this is any such great advantage. >People usually do not make this association. I.e. can you share what >practical advantage one could derive from this (interesting) property? > > >3. Each month has exactly four weeks. > >Yes, this would greatly simplify payroll systems and all. > > >4. The seven day week is preserved. > >Excellent! > > >5. No change needed for units smaller than a day. > > >In other words, the proposal doesn't address the time construct, just the >calendar. > > >Disadvantages: > > > >1. It is not decimal based (including hour, minute second). > > >This would be a major one. Applications that could use the full benefit of >decimalization could not be realized anyhow. > > >Unfortunately, we simply can't achieve full decimalization... > >True, but this should not preclude us from going as far as one possibly >can. We *can* fix the time construct. We *can* fix the number of months. >But we *cannot* fix the weekly cycle (it's even a divine mandate... ;-) >). I mean, we can, theoretically, but we can't (it would ruffle too many >feathers in the religious world) in practice. The problem emerging from >stipulating that there would be 10 days in a week is that it could >potentially be associated with days of rest falling on different days of >the 7-day weekly cycle which would certainly upset too many people. >Keeping track of the Sabbath would be a nightmare. > >Marcus > > >Is your boss reading your email? ....Probably >Keep your messages private by using Lycos Mail. >Sign up today at http://mail.lycos.com _________________________________________________________________ Join the world�s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com
