Opening the calendar…
Somewhere
A LITTLE MUSEUM
OF VERY BIG CYCLES
EXHIBIT 01 / AROUND THE WORLD
There’s a world
inside every day.
A feast. A new start. A day to pause.
Turn time and find a day marked somewhere.
THE EVERYDAY MACHINEEST. 2000 — 2100
Our MoonLocal time
MANY PLACES. ONE PLANET.
Also happening somewhere
The month
Pick a day. Find a story.
SAME INSTANT / DIFFERENT CLOCKS
Meanwhile, on Earth…
Your reference cityNatural Earth geography ↗
It is the same moment in each city. Pick a city or tap a dot. What time is it there?
EXHIBIT 02 / RHYTHMS OF CULTURE
Many calendars.
One turning world.
Some follow the Sun. Some follow the Moon.
Some find a way to follow both.
TAKE THE LONG VIEW
Patterns bigger than a year
WHY DO HOLIDAYS MOVE?
Follow the start of Ramadan
Watch a Moon month move through the year. We use a date rule here. A group’s own date may differ.
Each dot marks the month where Ramadan starts by this rule. Some years have two starts; we show the first.
EXHIBIT 03 / NATURE’S TIMEKEEPERS
The first clocks
were in the sky.
A spin makes a day. An orbit makes a year.
Watch the light change as our world moves.
SUN · EARTH · MOONSCHEMATIC / NOT TO SCALE
Half of the Moon is sunlit. Its phase is the part of that sunlit half we see from Earth.
THE SKY AT OUR PLACE
Seasons come from Earth’s tilt. When one hemisphere tilts toward the Sun, the other tilts away.
FOUR TURNING POINTS
A year around the Sun
EXHIBIT 04 / THE ART OF KEEPING TIME
A little tick.
A very big idea.
Find a motion that repeats. Give it a steady beat.
Then use it to count the passing time.
THE PRACTICE CLOCKHANDS · GEARS · CHIMES
Chimes start only when you press the button.
A TURN WITHIN A TURN
Make the hands work together
FIND A STEADY BEAT
Longer pendulum, slower swing
A simple model for a small swing near Earth’s surface. A clock’s escapement gives tiny pushes to keep it going.
COUNT A SHORT MOMENT
How long is your minute?
Close your eyes, start the stopwatch, and stop when you think a minute has passed.
Use your own steady beat to estimate a minute.
YOUR MUSEUM NOTEBOOK
Small notes.
Big discoveries.
Your notes stay on this device. Each profile has its own notes.
A LITTLE EXPERIMENT