October 22, 2013

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October 23, 4004 B.C.: Happy Birthday Earth!

October 23 is (in)famous as supposed earth’s birthday – this date is mentioned in many textbooks retelling the life of Irish Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656).

By David Bressan

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

October 23 is (in)famous as supposed earth's birthday - this date is mentioned in many textbooks retelling the life of Irish Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656). In 1650 Ussher published a book with the title "Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi origine deducti" (Annals of the Old Testament, deduced from the earliest Beginning of the World), where he reconstructed the history of the world based on the bible, Egyptian and Jewish chronologies , but also research by other scholars, like John Lightfoot (1602-1675), who published his calculations in the year 1644.

The exact time given by the Ussher-Lightfoot-Chronology - October 23*, 4004 B.C., at nine o'clock in the morning** - is often ridiculed by textbooks as (we now know) a futile attempt, but at his time Ussher's calculation were based on the most reliable information available and were not intended for practical use, but as a theological guideline. For Ussher and other scholars it was important to know the age of the earth to possibly infer the time of the rapture.

[* or 6 p.m. October 22, 4004 B.C. according to the Jewish calendar, **however Ussher don´t mentions a certain time, he only states that light was created first ]

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However Ussher´s calculations were not universally accepted as the only truth - there were in fact other attempts to determinate the age of the earth and many concluded that the true age was significantly older than the known human history.

Bibliography:

JACKSON, P.W. (2006): The Chronologers´Quest. The Search of the Age of the Earth. Cambridge Press: 291

LEDDRA, M. (2010): Time Matters - Geology´s Legacy to Scientific Thought. Wiley-Blackwell Press: 269

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My name is David Bressan and I'm a freelance geologist working mainly in the Austroalpine crystalline rocks and the South Alpine Palaeozoic and Mesozoic cover-sediments in the Eastern Alps. I graduated with a project on Rock Glaciers dynamics and hydrology, this phase left a special interest for quaternary deposits and modern glacial environments. During my research on glaciers, studying old maps, photography and reports on the former extent of these features, I became interested in history, especially the development of geomorphologic and geological concepts by naturalists and geologists. Living in one of the key area for the history of geology, I combine field trips with the historic research done in these regions, accompanied by historic maps and depictions. I discuss broadly also general geological concepts, especially in glaciology, seismology, volcanology, palaeontology and the relationship of society and geology.

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