Saturday, April 10, 2010

Do You Know Where You Are?


How often are you aware of the following facts?

- You are traveling over 1000 miles an hour as you sit still or stand stationary.

- The sunlight that warms your skin has just taken an 8 and a half minute journey over a distance of 93 million miles to cause that soothing sensation.

- We, and everything around us, are composed of energy packed atoms bouncing about on a scale difficult to grasp. These are realities that almost always escape our thoughts, but are ever-present with us.

As mind-boggling as such nuggets can be, exploring the depths of galaxies, the mysteries of gravity, the intricacies of light speed, and the composition of the universe that we are a part of make such miraculous observations to seem like simple addition in the face of complicated mathematical languages.

For most of us, the jewels of wisdom and sense of perspective offered in astronomy are out of reach. The gap between those in the know in the world of physics, mathematics, and astronomical observation and the general public is often as wide as the distance between our planet and much of what they observe and examine.

Take for instance the concept of time and space: there are 3 dimensions of space (latitude, longitude and altitude) and 1 dimension of time. This is presented as this complex concept that is a part of Einstein's theory of general relativity. We hear all kinds of references to the theory in cartoons and movies, but don't get how it applies to everyday life. But it does. It applies to you right now, right where you are.


I'll give an example. If I was going to meet you somewhere, I would need to tell you where I was going to be and the time that I would be there. Say I was going to be on the 2nd floor of the Eaton Centre near the Queen Street entrance. There is the longitude and latitude (Yonge and Queen). If I gave you only that information, you wouldn't see me. I also need to give you my altitude (the 2nd floor). Even with that information, you would still miss me. You would need to know the time and date to meet me (Monday, 8pm).

While there is much more to it, that is one of our most common everyday applications of time and space, and it is something that we could all be taught at a very young age.


As it is commonly said, better late than never. With that said, I am recommending that you check out National Geographics series "Known Universe". It is a very visual, very well made series that explains some of these concepts in a way that makes it relevant.

You can check out the link below: