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Stefantasy, v. 5, issue 2, June 1949
Page 5
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The first of those to be dumped is, of conrse, the season. i would like to know what Earthly (or Martian) use it is to name the four seasons and who decided, and upon what authority, that there are only four. If anyone on Mars insists upon having seasons let him just look out of the window once in a while. Most people are able to tell the time of year in this fashion without having to consult a printed schedule and if they are not it is usually because the weather itself is paying little or no attention to that schedule. Those who cannot get along without seasons need only to remember that: a When there is snow upon the ground it is winter. b When the flowers and trees (if there are any on Mars, which seems doubtful) begin to burgeon it is spring. c When it is hot as hell it is summer. d When the leaves (if any) begin to fall it is autumn. It is as simple as that. Of course the possible absence of vegetation tends to make this system of somewhat uncertain value, but if there is none the pioneers probably will not last long enough to worry about season. Now that seasons are so neatly disposed of we can turn our attention to months. While I have nothing whatever against 16 when it is considered purely as a number, it seems to me to leave much to be desired as the number of months in a year. If you don't agree with me just take a look at our present method of measuring time. 60 seconds make a minute; 60 minutes make an hour; 24 hours make a day: 28, 29, 30 or 31 days make a month; 12 months make a year. Did you ever try to figure out the number of seconds between, say, April first and November eleventh? If so you must be even crazier than I but at least you understand why I strongly advise against such units. There is nothing reasonable about them. Migration to Mars is a good chance to throw out all those units that, like Topsy, just growed. In practically everything else we use the decimal system and there is no possible reason why it cannot work just as well with time as it does with money. Let us assume for the time being that we actually need all those units, (except, of course, the season.) In that case we must have names for them and the names we are already using are as good as any. Then let 100 seconds be a minute; 100 minutes be an hour; ten hours be a day; ten days a week; ten weeks a month and ten months a year. You can see with just half an eye how much easier it would be to figure out the number of seconds between 3-1-1 and 9-11-1 if you really want to know. Personally I don't care a bit and don't see why the subject keeps popping up. Certain finicky persons are likely at this point to object that in such a case the calendar year would not coincide with the actual Martian year. Quick June, 1949 5
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The first of those to be dumped is, of conrse, the season. i would like to know what Earthly (or Martian) use it is to name the four seasons and who decided, and upon what authority, that there are only four. If anyone on Mars insists upon having seasons let him just look out of the window once in a while. Most people are able to tell the time of year in this fashion without having to consult a printed schedule and if they are not it is usually because the weather itself is paying little or no attention to that schedule. Those who cannot get along without seasons need only to remember that: a When there is snow upon the ground it is winter. b When the flowers and trees (if there are any on Mars, which seems doubtful) begin to burgeon it is spring. c When it is hot as hell it is summer. d When the leaves (if any) begin to fall it is autumn. It is as simple as that. Of course the possible absence of vegetation tends to make this system of somewhat uncertain value, but if there is none the pioneers probably will not last long enough to worry about season. Now that seasons are so neatly disposed of we can turn our attention to months. While I have nothing whatever against 16 when it is considered purely as a number, it seems to me to leave much to be desired as the number of months in a year. If you don't agree with me just take a look at our present method of measuring time. 60 seconds make a minute; 60 minutes make an hour; 24 hours make a day: 28, 29, 30 or 31 days make a month; 12 months make a year. Did you ever try to figure out the number of seconds between, say, April first and November eleventh? If so you must be even crazier than I but at least you understand why I strongly advise against such units. There is nothing reasonable about them. Migration to Mars is a good chance to throw out all those units that, like Topsy, just growed. In practically everything else we use the decimal system and there is no possible reason why it cannot work just as well with time as it does with money. Let us assume for the time being that we actually need all those units, (except, of course, the season.) In that case we must have names for them and the names we are already using are as good as any. Then let 100 seconds be a minute; 100 minutes be an hour; ten hours be a day; ten days a week; ten weeks a month and ten months a year. You can see with just half an eye how much easier it would be to figure out the number of seconds between 3-1-1 and 9-11-1 if you really want to know. Personally I don't care a bit and don't see why the subject keeps popping up. Certain finicky persons are likely at this point to object that in such a case the calendar year would not coincide with the actual Martian year. Quick June, 1949 5
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