作者：陈国雄
A Calendar of Errors
If I invented theGregorian calendar
I would not make it
out of my writing club alive
A club so precise
only exacting words will suffice
“You know your 9th monthSeptember
comes from the Latin word septem
which means 7”
Dennis a leader of thewriting club
would continue to correct me
“If you use Latin numbers
septem 7, octo 8, novem 9, decem 10
You should at least putthem
in the correct order on your calendar”
Mike another elder of thewriting club
would second what Dennis just said
A historian onAppalachian history
Mike educates me
on Roman history as well
Romans named July afterJulius Caesar
Romans named August
after Augustus Cesar
Romans also named Juneafter Juno
A Roman queen god
of marriage and weddings
Planning a June weddinganyone?
Janus is the Roman god
of beginning and end
therefore the first month is January
Februum was a Romanpurification ritual
for spring which became February
March came from Mars
the Roman god of war
A double meaning
as we march to war
The Latin word aprilisbecame April
a Latin reference
to the opening of flowers and trees
Maia the Roman earthgoddess
of growing plants
became the fifth month May
All that historicalmeaning is lost now
As some name theirdaughter July
not realizing Julius Cesar
hiding in disguise
We seldom name anyoneAugust
which is a good thing
keeping Augustus Cesar in history dust
But not respecting ournumbers
has damaged us mentally in many ways
When we can say decem is12 and not 10
octo is 10 and not 8
or septem is 9 and not 7
We confuse our children
and our presidents too
That metric is not worthlearning
as we inch our way to burning
our nation’s math and science goals
Why believe in numberswhen our calendar
makes fun of it almost every month
If we want to stop ourbackward slide
in aero science
and all things mathematically correct
We should respect numbersmore
and put them on the right path
so airplanes do not crash
When numbers are used outof order
airplanes do not fly and people die
What does Pope Gregory
know about calendars in 1592
Some are still asking
why the Pope lost 8 years
in his calendar invention
The Pope knew how tocontrol his flock
around a catholic calendar clock
For 170 years Englandignored
the Gregorian calendar
used by Catholics in Europe
In 1752 England’scalendar protest faded
and began using the pope’s calendar
ever since
Must the new quantumworld
continue using a medieval calendar
Let us be more exacting
as we aim to count photons
traveling at the speed of light
Jesus used the Hebrewcalendar
Julius used his own Juliancalendar
Islam use the Hijricalendar
There is a Buddhistcalendar
Several Japanesecalendars
Chinese and Ethiopiancalendars
There is no shortage
of different calendars
A more exacting timepiece
is what we need today
To reflect our newfoundknowledge
of quantum, photon and boron
A new quantum calendar
Or a new photon calendar
Or a speed of lightcalendar
Yes, a speed of lightcalendar
will shake things up
And take young ones toother galaxies
traveling at the speed of light
A new photon calendar
will help inter galaxy travelers
get to another galaxy on time
and not be late for dinner
网友评论