Here are some great tools that let you visualize relative sizes, timescales, Powers of Ten, and the scale of the incredibly large down to the scale of the incredibly small.
 Powers of 10 |
 The Scale of the Universe |
 The Scale of the Universe |
 Time Scale of Earth |
In terms of Earth timescales and human history, a 24-hour clock does not really allow us to conceptualize and compare times we know from everyday life with the timespan of earth and the universe.
If we instead use a year as equivalent to earth’s age (4.6 billion years), we can gain a perspective on the time periods. So let’s say Earth was formed on January 1st, and we are now at midnight on December 31st.
Jan 1: Earth formed
Mar 29: The first life appeared
Aug 19: The first multicellular life developed
Nov 14: First animals
Dec 13: Dinosaurs evolved and became dominant life form
Dec 26: Dinosaurs were wiped out (they lasted 2 weeks on this time scale)
Dec 31, 11:37 pm: Humans evolved in Africa (23 minutes ago on this scale)
Dec 31, 11:51pm: Humans left Africa (9 minutes ago)
Dec 31, 11:59:22: Humans invent writing (38 seconds ago)
Dec 31, 11:59:56: Columbus discovers America (4 seconds ago)
Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
