Different world-views have different time-scales as regards the history of the Earth and the universe. Buddhist, Jain and Hindu cosmologies describe the universe as a never-ending series of cycles each lasting millions or billions of years. The Greeks had the "great year" of 24,500 years, based on the precession of the equinoxes. The time-scale of the fundamentalist or Creationist Judeo-Christian is based on a word-for-word reading of the first book of the Bible, and assumes a total age of the earth and the cosmos of a mere 5 or 6,000 (some Creationists allow 10,000) years. Astronomy and Geology, working on scientific data built up over the last two centuries or so, assumes the Earth to be very ancient, more in keeping with the eastern than the western (Graeco-Judeo-Christian) perspectives. However, whereas the Eastern perspective is (like the Greek) cyclic, the Western scientific understanding is strictly linear and evolutionary. (Palaeos - Different Time-Scales)

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Jessica Michaelides 09-26-05
I really enjoyed your page on Linear vs. Circular time. Very informative and explained in an accesible manner.