Sunday, January 28, 2007

Man and the Universe

Current scientific evidence indicates that the Universe is 13.7 billion years old. If we telescope this span of time into a single year, then the Big Bang occurs in the first second of January 1. Each succeeding day covers 37.5 million years; each hour represents 1.5 million years, 1 minute equals 26,000 years and 433 years come and go in one second; the life expectancy of a human being is less than 0.2 second.

On our imaginary calender, the Milky Way Galaxy appears on February 14, the Sun forms on August 20 and the Earth develops on August 30. Life first appears on Earth on September 16. Shelled marine life evolves by December 16, the first land plants appear on 12/19, ancestral amphibians grace the scene on 12/21 and the earliest reptiles turn up on 12/22. Dinosaurs rule the earth from December 26 through December 30; during their reign, the first mammals appear on December 26 and ancestral primates evolve by December 30. Humans do not inhabit the earth until the last 5 minutes of December 31.

If the Universe was created for man, it seems odd that we, as a species, have missed more than 99.99 percent of its history.