"When we try to pick out anything by itself,
we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe"
- John Muir
"When we begin to realize this tremendous sense of time that's orienting us and space that's grounding us, we are energized in a new way to take responsibility for the planet and its ecosystems. In other words, our response to the magnificence of cosmology and this story is a responsibility to its continuity."
- Mary Evelyn Tucker
"The further back I look, the further forward I can see."
- Winston Churchill
The following statistics show the unawareness of our place in the universe:
20% of Americans think that the Sun orbits the Earth. 17 % believe that the Earth revolves around the Sun once a day
(The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
40% of Harvard Graduates did not know that the Earth's 365 day orbit of the Sun is the basis for a year
(Time Magazine 1994)
45% of the US population think God created human beings "pretty much in their present form" within the last 10,000 years.
(NY Times Oct 6, 2005)
Infinitaas™
A revolutionary new way to visualize our journey through
time, space, evolution and human history.
"Every object well observed may become an organ of perception"
-Goethe
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About This Image
Overview
Infinitaas is a new paradigm
For exploring and learning
Big History
It enables us to see and understand
Ourselves as never before
Within the flow
Of Space, Time, Evolution
And Human History
Infinitaas is a new visual language
And a 4 dimensional, real-time,
Interactive visualization
Platform and interface
Presenting a dynamic flowing map
Of our evolutionary journey
Infinitaas invites viewers
To tour and explore
The inter-related movements
Of the Earth, moon, sun,
Solar System, Milky Way, and
Neighboring galaxies
As they move through time.
These bodies leave
"Time-calibrated vapor trails"
That become
Our infinitely zoomable interface
In both scale and time.
Imagine "Powers of 10" in time
Through this interface we access
Further visualizations of events
And the evolutionary processes
That constitute our history
Blending cutting edge technology
And beautiful artistry to
Communicate the best of science
And human understanding
Infinitaas clearly conveys
With deep intellectual
And emotional impact
Urgently needed
Contemporary understandings
For answering
Humanity's perpetual questions:
What are we?
Who are we?
Where are we?
Where did we come from?
How did we get here?
Where are we going?
Infinitaas advances, as well,
Greater Earth Systems literacy
And provides better understanding
For navigating the challenges
Facing our species
Infinitaas changes
Fundamentally
Our understanding of ourselves
Within Existence