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A logarithmic timeline is a timeline laid out according to a logarithmic scale. This necessarily implies a zero point and an infinity point, neither of which can be displayed. The most natural zero point is the Big Bang, looking forward, but the most common is the ever-changing present, looking backward. (Also possible is a zero point in the present, looking forward to the infinite future.)

The idea of presenting history logarithmically goes back at least to 1932, when John B. Sparks copyrighted his chart "Histomap of Evolution". Around the same time it was also explored by the cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, who used it to propose that memories naturally fade in an exponential manner. Logarithmic timelines have also been used in futures studies to justify the idea of a technological singularity.

A logarithmic scale enables events throughout time to be presented accurately, but it also enables more events to be included closer to one end. Sparks explained this by stating:

As we travel forward in geological time the more complex is the evolution of life forms and the more are the changes to be recorded. Further, the most recent periods of evolution hold the most interest for us. We need therefore increasingly more space for our outline the nearer we approach modern times, and the logarithmic scale fulfills just this condition without any break in the continuity.

Two examples of such timelines are shown below, while a more comprehensive version (similar to that of Sparks' "Histomap") can be found at Detailed logarithmic timeline.

Example of a forward-looking logarithmic timeline

In this table each row is defined in seconds after the Big Bang, with the earliest at the top of the chart. (see Cosmological decade)

The present time is approximately 4.3×10 seconds after the Big Bang; the Sun and Earth formed about 2×10 seconds after the Big Bang. 10 seconds is 3 trillion years (3×10 years) in the future.

Example of a backward-looking logarithmic timeline

In this table, each row is defined in years ago, that is, years before the present date, with the most recent at the top of the chart. Each event is an occurrence of an observed or inferred process. (Note that the logarithmic scale never actually gets to zero.)

See also

• Geologic time scale
• Graphical timeline from Big Bang to Heat Death
• Natural history
• Orders of magnitude (time)
• Technological singularity
• Time constant
• Timeline
• Timeline of the evolutionary history of life
• Timeline of the Big Bang
• Cosmological decade

References

1. Onion, Rebecca. "The Entire History of the World—Really, All of It—Distilled into a Single Gorgeous Chart". The Vault. Slate. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2013.

External links

• Interview with Heinz von Foerster Archived 27 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
• Detailed logarithmic timeline of the Universe
• History and Mathematics
• Exploring Time from Planck time to the lifespan of the universe

• Orders of magnitude (time)
• Chronology