BOOK-3: CALENDAR REFORMATION

Gregorian Calendar Reformation.

The following lists the content and topics covered in the book

1)        Calendar

2)        Leap Year

3)        Julian Calendar

4)         Gregorian Calendar

5)         Jesuit Fr, Christopher Clavius

6)         First Point of Aries

7)         Pope Gregory’s Solution

8)         Gregorian Calendar in other Countries

9)         UK accepted Gregorian Calendar in 1752 AD

10)       Gregorian Calendar  in  Swedan , Japan  and Turkey

11)       USSR accepted Gregorian Calendar in 1918

12)        Gregorian Calendar after 4000 years     

13)         Ancient Calendars

14)         Christmas date

15)         Easter date

16)         Good Friday

17)         Ash Wednesday

18)         List of Ash Wednesday  and Good Friday  till 2030

19)         Fat Tuesday

20)         Maundy Thursday

21)         Days and Week

22)         Leap Second

23)         Ancient Roman Calendar

24)         King Numa Popillus

25)         Julius  Caesar

26)         Augustus Caesar

27)        BC and AD   or  BCE  and  CE

28)        Zero year

29)        Full Moon and New Moon Calculations

30)        Lunar and Solar Eclipses Calculations

31)        roposed future calendars

          International Fixed Calendar & World Calendar     

Few sample Questions from the Book

Q 6)   How to identify a leap year?

Any year exactly divisible by 4 is a leap year. For example 2008 is exactly divisible by 4, hence it is a leap year. Years 2012, 2016, 2020 are all exactly divisible by 4, they are all leap years.

Q 30) Will the year 2100 be a leap year?

 It is exactly divisible by 4, 2100/4= 525 (no reminder), however it is not a leap year. For a century year, to become a leap year it should be exactly divisible by 400 (not by 4) 2100/400= 5.25, it is not exactly divisible by 400, hence it is not a leap year. To be named a leap year, any year ending with 00, should be exactly divisible by 400 not by 4.

Q 37 ) Can you explain Gregorian Calendar in a nut shell?

Today’s universal calendar is Gregorian calendar; it is based on following adjustments.

Once every 4 years, one day is added in the month of February to make it 29 days.

Once every 400 years, three days are removed.

Once every 4000 years, one more day is removed(even though this was not suggested by PopeGregory, this adjustment is required).

Q 65 ) Can you give an easy method to calculate Easter date?

Take a calendar, mark 21^st of March, and then mark the first Full Moon after 21^st. The Sunday following the Full Moon is Easter Sunday. There can not be Easter Sunday before or on 21^st of March. Easter will range any day from 22^nd March to 25^th April.

Q 78 ) Can you explain about a “Leap Second”? 

The rotation of the Earth slows down over a period of time, one second in one year or more than one year. It is measured by very sensitive Atomic clocks (Cesium Clocks). The atomic time and Earth’s rotation time should be synchronized. This  is done by inserting one second whenever required, this extra one second inserted in the Universal time is called the “Leap Second”.

The leap second is inserted on the 31^st of Dec night, just before the New Year begins. It is not done every year, its done whenever required. Inserting a leap year is determined by the International Earth Rotation System Service (IERS), this observatory is functioning from Paris since Jan-1, 1988. It is also responsible for maintaining Global time UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).  This has replaced GMT(Greenwich Mean Time).

Reference Books:

• Dance of Time by Michael Judge
• Ancient Maya world by Lynn V. Foster
• The History of Time  by Leofranc Holford Stevens
• Cassell’s Chronology of world History
• Religious Holidays and Calendarsby Karen Bellennir
• Atronomy by Dinah L Moche
• The History of calendars  by Frank Parise
• Astronomy by Prof Ramachandran
• The History  of the Calendar by Barbara A Somervill
•  Catholic Encyclaepedia.
•  The Encyclopaedia of Religions.
•  The New Encyclopaedia Britannica.

If you want to read the entire book , please go to my website. Click

https://sites.google.com/site/msvkgf/my-books/on-science/calendar