THIS IS THE LENGTH OF EARTH'S HISTORY, WHEN IT IS STRETCHED ACROSS THE PAGES OF THE MAGAZINE
4.5 billion
The Moon forms after a collision
If you have encountered Einstein’s relativity, you’ll know that time is something difficult to put your finger on precisely. It’s hard even to come up with a meaningful definition. Take this attempt, from famous American physicist John Wheeler: “Time is nature’s way to keep everything from happening all at once.”
This seems almost flippant, and it is also circular reasoning, dependent on what you want to show, as the words “all at once” are a refererence to time – and you cannot define a concept by using the concept itself.
Wheeler knew that, of course.
Time is nature's way to keep everything from happening all at once.
AMERICAN PHYSICIST JOHN WHEELER YOU MAKE YOUR OWN TIME NEW YORK TIMES/RITZAU SCANPIX
Language sets limits to our exploration of nature, and there is a deep-rooted similarity between time and place in our language. ‘When we get
