Date: Sunday, 7 Jan 2001
From: Peter Meyer
Subject: Re: http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/newmill.htm

Dear SJ,

Your objection has the merit of being unique and unprecedented.

>The astronomical system makes date calculations much easier. Consider the
>above question as to how many years elapsed between 1st January 6 B.C. and
>1st January 6 A.D.? In the astronomical system this becomes: How many years
>elapsed between 1st January -5 and 1st January 6? The answer is: 6 - (-5) =
>6 + 5 = 11 years.
>http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/newmill.htm
>
>sjbeck - For this theory to hold true,
>zero needs to be a dividing line which is not counted.
>If the year zero were considered, it would go -5, -4,
>-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. (Total is 12 years.)

It's true that there are twelve numbers in the set {-5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. But the question was: how many years elapse between -5-1-1 and 6-1-1? That question is not answered by counting the number of integers in the set {-5, ..., 6}.

Apparently you regard each of the numbers in the set as representing a year within the elapsed period, thus 12 years instead of the correct 11, from which you conclude erroneously that 0 must not be counted. The period from 1st January 6 B.C. to 1st January 6 A.D. does not include the year 6 A.D.

The basic thing to realize is that the astronomical year-numbering system begins with the integers ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ... as an abstract model, and associates each year with an integer in this sequence.

I hope this clarifies the matter for you.

>As I see it, this
>removes the basis for your further conjecture on the subject.

I make no conjectures in this article.

Regards,
Peter Meyer