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Full Idea
Uniform circular motion is most of all a measure, because the number of this is most easily known. …This is why time is thought to be the motion of the [celestial] sphere, because the other changes are measured by this one.
Gist of Idea
Circular motion is the most obvious measure of time, and especially the celestial sphere
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 223b14)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Physics Books III and IV', ed/tr. Hussey,Edward [OUP 1983], p.53
A Reaction
This makes the year the basic unit of time for the human race. Apparently minutes only became of interest when railway timetables appeared in the 1850s.
22963 | We measure change by time, and time by change, as they are interdefined [Aristotle] |
22968 | Circular motion is the most obvious measure of time, and especially the celestial sphere [Aristotle] |
17015 | If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton] |
12487 | We can never show that two successive periods of time were equal [Locke] |
22882 | We use calendars for the order of events, and clocks for their passing [Bardon] |