Should we change from the Gregorian calendar?
JAN 05, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023978
WSJ.com : Almost since Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the new calendar —itself a reform of Julius Caesar’s calendar —in 1582, proposals have bubbled up for something better.Creating a calendar is difficult. Western tradition demands a seven-day week. Ancient custom, rooted in Moon cycles, calls for a 12-month year. The Earth’s tilted axis produces four seasons. But Earth’s orbit , uncooperatively, takes slightly more than 365 days, and 365 is divisible by none of 7, 12 or 4. And thanks to the little bit of extra time—about one-fourth of a day—required for a complete orbit, leap years are needed to keep things on track.The Wall Street Journal‘s Charles Forelle takes a brief look at the Gregorian calendar and some of the alternatives such as giving February, May, August, and November 35 days and the rest 28 days, except in a leap year, when December has 35.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
