The Cosmic Calendar

Many years ago, in 1977, astronomer and author Carl Sagan offered us the concept of a “Cosmic Calendar” in his book The Dragons of Eden.  It’s a fun thought experiment in which you take the entire history of the universe, from the Big Bang until now, and represent it as calendar year.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

Citations

Biello, David, and David Biello. “The Origin of Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere.” Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2009, www.scientificamerican.com/article/origin-of-oxygen-in-atmosphere.

“Cosmic Calendar.” Visav, visav.phys.uvic.ca/%7Ebabul/AstroCourses/P303/BB-slide.htm. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

“Galaxies, Explained.” Science, 17 Apr. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/galaxies.

Kazlev, M. Alan. “Palaeos: Time: The Cosmic Calendar.” Palaeos.Com, palaeos.com/time/cosmic_calendar.html. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Sagan, Carl. The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence the Dragons of Eden. Random House, 1989.

Wikipedia contributors. “Cosmic Calendar.” Wikipedia, 3 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Calendar.

Music in this Episode

Gathering Darkness by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3798-gathering-darkness

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome To Horrorland by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5016-welcome-to-horrorland

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Garden Music by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3796-garden-music

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Arcadia by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3377-arcadia

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tikopia by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4529-tikopia

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology news

“I will be using some of these podcasts for my high school students. ”

“Intelligent, informative, & insightful.”

Apple Podcast Review