Months to Minutes

The Winged Chariot of Time

The Month

The month, like the seasons, was given to man by nature. Its origin rests in the length of time — about 29 days — it takes the moon to orbit the earth. Since the moon has long been an object of wonder and veneration, the month has take on almost mystical connotations in many societies. In Asia, for example, the moon governs some Buddhist religious observances.

But in the West the month is less strictly measured by the movements of the moon and has become a time unit of convenience, a useful way to subdivide the year and the seasons. One of the chief functions of the month is as a time unit of commerce and of he periodic exchange of money. Bills, rent and credit payments are usually at the end of the month; for many people payday is a monthly event.

The Week

Every society has had to invent the week, for a time unit smaller than a month but longer than a day is essential to human affairs. A community functions more smoothly if regularly recurring days are set aside for laundry, marketing, time off form the job ad worship. The Ancient Greeks split their months into three 10-day weeks and the Romans had their market week of eight days ending in a day of rest and festivals. Among primitive tribes today, the market week varies in duration from four to ten days. The seven-day week is practically unknown amongst these societies; it is the only week-length not in use by them.

Among the major nations of the world, however, the seven-day is the custom. This length was derived from Genesis — “And on the seventh God … rested” — and was established over most of the world by the spread of Christianity and Islam. Attempts to change the seven-day week in the Western societies have invariably failed. In 1792 the French Revolutionary Convention enacted a decimal calendar that called for 10-day weeks. Although the calendar worked, it was abandoned after Napoleon came to power. In our own century, the USSR tried twice to alter the week, decreeing a week of five days in 1929 and a week of six days in1932. But by 1940, the seven-day week had been restored.

The Day

Since man first walked the Earth, the day has been the most obvious indicator of time’s passage. Nothing exerts a greater control on man’s sense of time and activity than the blaze of light and warmth that floods the world at dawn, and the cool darkness that occurs when the sun sets.

With each sunrise, man begins to work — milking his cows, selling his produce, toiling in factory or office. As the sun crosses the sky, the tempo of the day increases; as the sun begins to set, man’s working hours come slowly to a halt. Farm animals are bedded down, shops are closed, and it is time for family, food and relaxation. Soon the dark side of the Earth is falling asleep, with only man’s own artificial lights left to take the place of the departed sun — while half the globe away the sun is rising and people are stirring as they make ready to begin their daily routine.

The Hour

The hour is the invention of Western civilization, and it dictates an entire way of life. The hour tells man when to start work and when to quit, when to sleep and when to rise. Man once ate whenever he was hungry, but today mealtimes are fixed to an hour.

Today the hours are such regulators of life that it is hard think of a day without them. Yet the hour gained importance only in the 14h Century when European towns mounted clocks that chimed out the time 24 times a day. Prior to that, the day had been divided less accurately. The Anglo-Saxons, for example, broke it into vague sections called tides, such as morningtide, noontide and eveningtide. But these provide only rough estimates of the time.

As exact as hours can make time, not every society uses them in the same way. In the United Sates, for example, the office day generally occupies the hours between about 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. In Spain, office workers report at about 9 but take a four-break at 1 for dinner and siesta, then return to work at 5 and leave at 8. Spaniards sit down for a light supper around 11 p.m., about the hour most Americans are falling asleep.

The Minute

The first clocks had no minute hands; in fact, the minute gained importance only with the development of modern societies. During the Industrial Revolution, trains began to run on schedules; factory whistles blew to change shifts; the tempo of life quickened and the minute became a major governing unit of time.

Even the minute is too long for modern science. In the ventures of man into space, with all the intricate calculations involved, the second, millisecond and microsecond now stand as the vital measures of time.