strathspey@strathspey.org:11824

Andrew Aitchison

Re: The Millenium!

April 27, 1998, 5:45 p.m. (Message 11824, in reply to message 11788)

Somebody said:
> Just a caution.  The Millennium starts in 2001.
> (Centuries go from 1 to 100 not 0 to 99.)

Priscilla M. Burrage replied:
> We find ourselves with this problem because the Greco-Roman counting
> system didn't include a zero.
and went on to explain more about zero.

As I understand it, Historians don't have the year zero (Priscilla
explained why), but Astronomers do, since it makes it easier to calculate
the time between to events, one AD and the other BC.

Thus Astronomers will celebrate the new Millennium in 1999/2000,
Historians will celebrate it in 2000/2001,
and the rest of us have a good excuse for 2 parties.

Dr. Andrew C. Aitchison		Computer Officer, DPMMS, Cambridge
x.x.xxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx.xx	http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~werdna