The Winged Chariot of Time

"at my back I always hear

time's winged chariot hurrying near"

Andrew Marvell

To His Coy Mistress

What is time?  Any child knows what the answer is, and yet even the most advanced theoretical physicist is hard put for a fully satisfactory definition.  He cannot say for certain when time started, when it will end, or even if it really exists in the philosophical sense.  Yet measurement of time is the basis of all science, for the scientist can study only what changes with time.  Astronomers chart the history of the universe in “big time,” the passage of billions of years.  Physicists and engineers subdivide “little time” into billionths of a second.  Biologists have discovered that animals and plants measure time too — even the smallest single-celled organisms depend on biological clocks to keep themselves synchronized internally and externally.  

Time is one of the worlds deepest mysteries.  No one can say exactly what it is.  Yet, the ability to measure time is what makes our way of life possible.  Most human activities involve groups of people acting together in the same place at the at same time.  People could not do this if they did not all measure time in the same way.

One way of thinking about time is to imagine a world without time.  This timeless world would be at a standstill.  But if some kind of change took place, that timeless world would be different "now"  than it was "before."  That period -- no matter how brief -- between "before" and "now" indicates that time must have passed.  Thus, time and change are related because the passing of time depends on changes taking place.  Thus, time and change are related because the passing of time depends on the changes taking place.  In the real world, changes never stop happening.  Some changes seem to happen only once, like the falling of a particular leaf.  Other changes happen over and over again, like the breaking of wave against the shore.

Our site aims to explore the various aspects of time. Some of the things we plan to examine are:

1. the various meanings we give to the word time

2. the units of measurement of time

3. the "biological" clock present in all of us which governs our internal rhythms

4. The theory behind space and time, including relativity

5. The possibilities of time travel

It is important to note that the philosophy of Time bears powerfully on human emotions.  Not only do individuals regret the past, they also fear the future, not least because the alleged flow of time seems to be sweeping them towards their deaths, as swimmers are swept towards a waterfall.

©1999 ThinkQuest Team 28906