How far has *Science* been able to measure time?

Question

Can science understand time as infinite?
Meaning
not measurable: without any finite or measurable limits

If Science does not believe in time as infinity, then how long ago can they say the planet or the universe has been in exsistence since infinity cannot be measured?

Answer 1

Infinity can't be measured, but they are not measuring infinity.

Answer 2

The measurement of time is one of the fundamental aspects of physical science. You seem to think that science has some kind of hard opinion concerning this thought you have, that 'time is infinite'. I would suggest that that is not a very deep thought, even if it does revolve around something ineffable, like infinity.

The real measurement of time is at the core of all modern
physics, and the underlying revolution in thought that is represented by the work of 19th and 20th century cosmologists.

It's complicated, so I'll try to give you the main points, then, if you really are interested, perhaps you will follow up and look into these ideas.

During the time of Newton, there was a notion that the universe was like a great mechanism, a clock whose gears ran at an absolute speed; causality seemed absolute in that imaginning. It was thought space and time could be measured precisely because they were somehow fixed in an absolute way.

But with the discovery of electromagnetics, things began to change. It gradually became clear that the nature of time and space was relative. Einstein is best known for this, and the underlying nature of his general theory of relativity has specifically to do with the measurement of time.

Einstein showed that there is no way to prove simultaneity. That turns out to be a huge thought, with major repercussions for our understanding of the universe. Heisenberg illustrated elegantly that while we could learn the speed of a particle with one measurement, and its momentary location with another, there was no way we could know both of these things at the same time.

A growing understanding of the consequences of the second law of thermodynamics, and measurements of the Doppler shift of distant objects led to a vision of a universe much different than previously conceived.

From your question, I think you want to believe you have caught something that all these other thinkers have missed.

I would suggest you educate yourself on the subject before setting yourself up as a visionary.

It could be that the 'infinite' nature of time is as illusory as the 'infinite' nature of space.

If I were you, I'd start by reading The Universe and Dr. Einstein, by Lincoln Barnett. If that turns on a lightbulb in your head, then try The Structure of the Universe, by Jayant Narliker.

Be ready to think yourself wrong. That's how great thoughts begin. You may indeed come up with one.

Answer 3

I don't even think you understand what infinity is. In fact, from your previous questions I doubt you paid much attention at all in science class.

To physicists and astronomers, there are no infinities in the physical world. Not even space and time itself need to be 'infinite' in the purely mathematical sense. Whenever 'infinity' appears as a prediction by a theory of the physical world, it is deemed a flaw, and must be eliminated. It is considered a signal that the particular theory has been extended beyond its domain of applicability. Newtonian mechanics had no problem with bodies attaining infinite velocity, or acting through space with infinite speed. These expectations led to falsifiable predictions and that is, in part, why we now have special and general relativity. In the few cases where general relativity predicts 'infinity' in the form of singularities, this is regarded as a defect in general relativity theory that will be healed when a fully quantum theory of gravity is developed.

Answer 4

The age of the universe is not infinite. it is measurable by at least three methods, as shown in the first link I have listed as a source below. The methods are based on observable and verifiable empirical data.

Current thinking places the age of the universe at approximately 13.7 billion years. More information on this is available through the second link I have listed in sources.

Note that the methods given here represent the best efforts of some of the best minds in the world. Others will try to present as fact the word of the bible, a non-scientific work of fiction believed by some to be the "truth" because that same bible says it is. How bizarre is that ?

Answer 5

There is a difference between measuring the minimum age of the universe or the age of a planet vs measuring the age of the universe. They can measure the distance of distant quasars as being about 15 billion light years making the universe at least that old. No scientist has said that any individual object in the universe is infinite.

Answer 6

Time is not infinite, according to measurements taken by various instruments, such as the COBE sattlelite which measures the cosmic background radiation, we know the universe is about 13.8 billion years old. Time does not predate that origin point.

Long period dating is something we know how to do because the radioactive elements on the periodic table are known to decay from being radiactive to non-radioactive. Their rate of decay is completely predictable, so when we find these elements present in rocks, we know how old the rocks they are found in are, based on the amount of radioactive decay in the radioactive isotopes in the rock.

For instance if you take Uranium 235, you know that in 713,000,000 years, half of it will still be around. The other half will have decayed into lead. So you can use the presence of this material to date far back into history.

As such, we can learn from meteorites that the solar system is about 4.5 billion years old, and that is a reasonable guess for the age of the Earth (since there's no reason to think it would be either older or younger than the rest of the solar system.)

Answer 7

Yes.

Infinite does not mean without measurable limits.

The set of positive integers is an infinite set, but has a lower limit at zero. The numbers between 1 and 2 is also an infinite set, but has upper and lower limits.


It appear that you are the one who is having problems with these concepts.

Here is a good piece of advice for you:

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." -
-- Mark Twain

Answer 8

Science isn't measuring infinity.. the bible measures it in "the evening and the morning were the day".. we can definitely say that the earth is MUCH older than 6,000 years. Your creation story doesn't jive with what is scientifically proveable.

Answer 9

Albert Einstein and a group of scientists traced time back to within the first first seconds of it beginning, read up on the Big Bang theory.

Answer 10

"time" Existed long before the planets and physical universe then. "time" is only the measurement of movement of the 4th dimension.