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 The Theory of TimeThis is my narrative and relevant references from the Books on the Theory of Time. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban I will begin this with the fact that a Gorean year must be exactly the same as an Earth year. If this were not true, since Gor is in the same planar orbit around the sun as the earth, sooner or later, Gor would become visible to Earth. In fact, from time to time, small adjustments are made to Gor's orbital speed for this very reason. "That," he said with animation, "is the Theory of the Sun Shield." He added, "That is why I like to think of the planet as the Counter-Earth, not only because of its resemblance to our native world, but because, as a matter of fact, it is placed as a counterpoise to the Earth. It has the same plane of orbit and maintains its orbit in such a way as always to keep The Central Fire between it and its planetary sister, our Earth, even though this necessitates occasional adjustments in its speed of revolution."On other pages I discuss the Gorean year broken down into days weeks, months, and festivals. But in thinking about a Gorean day, or more specifically, the divisions of a Gorean day, we have a problem. Does it take the same amount of Earth hours, minutes and seconds for Gor to revolve from sun up to sun up as Earth? Or to put it another way, is a Gorean day exactly the same length of time as an Earth day? There are only two references where a Ihn (a Gorean second) is directly related to an Earth second. One is that an Ihn is a little longer than a second. And the other is that an Ihn is slightly less than a second. The Gorean Ihn, or second, is only a little longer than the Earth second.Therefore, we are presented with two possible outcomes. Theory 1 - Book 4 Gor rotates in 24 Earth hours. The revolution speed of the two planets is the same. 60 x 60 x 24 = 86,400 seconds in an Earth day. 86,400 seconds ÷ 20 ÷ 40, ÷ 80 = 1.35 seconds. 1 Ihn = 1.35 seconds. Theory 2 - Book 10 Gor rotates in 15½ Earth hours. We take the same factor of .35 derived from the 'little longer' equation and use in a 'slightly less' equation. In other words, subtract .35 from one second. 1 - .35 = .65 .65 x 60 x 60 x 24 = 56,160 Earth seconds = 15½ Earth hours in a Gorean day. 1 Ihn = .65 seconds. In reasoning on which theory is correct, this should also be considered: The planet, then, was smaller than our earth, and, given the apparent size of the sun, perhaps somewhat closer to it.Perhaps then, due its smaller diameter, Gor does indeed rotate faster. But nowhere in the series is anything like this mentioned. It would only stand to reason that a difference as significant as a Gorean day lasting only 15½ Earth hours would have been mentioned at least once. And yet another big difference between Gor and Earth is mentioned, gravity. This difference is mentioned several times. Here are just three: I was aware again of the somewhat lesser gravity of the planet,. . .The moons orbiting Gor and that there are three of them versus the one orbiting Earth is mentioned numerous times. I have a whole separate page devoted to this topic. The final analysis is that the major differences of proximity to the sun, the moons and gravity are duly noted. And yet a Gorean day lasting only 15½ Earth hours is never mentioned once. In fact it is outright refuted in Outlaw of Gor, page 150, where is says; The working day is fifteen Gorean Ahn (hours), which, allowing for the slight difference in the period of the planet's rotation, would be approximately eighteen Earth hours.And again in Priest-Kings of Gor, page 207; It was almost eight Gorean Ahn, or about ten Earth hours, Due to the preponderance of evidence, we can only take that the reference from Book 10 is merely an inconsistency. And, because of this, time comparisons made within these pages are based on the formula of 1.35 seconds = 1 Ihn. |       
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