TIME & SPACE
As with many subjects, the concept of time and space is an interesting one. Back before “fast travel” via railroad, time and space was a tricky thing. How did Americans travel from the well established East Coast all the way out to the Wild West? Oh that’s right, horse and carriage. It could take weeks to travel to the West through dangerous wilderness and uneven terrain, so packing light was a necessity.
With the invention of the railroad however, travel was no longer an issue as the time it took to get anywhere was cut in more than half. The railroad itself brought about the invention of another concept: time zones. Before time zones, each county or governed area would keep track of their own time, depending on where in the sky the sun was. This meant that throughout the East Coast, noon was different depending on your physical location. This caused issues with travelers, especially when having to catch trains and such. After some time, four zones were created for all of the United States: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. This kept the time for the United States, constant, regardless of where the sun was positioned in the sky. This is why it may be 9pm and dark in Virginia Beach, VA but still bright as day in Lexington, KY.
Travel wasn’t the only thing that changed due to the railroad though. Back in the day, the growing seasons were taken much more serious. Each crop had it’s own season, so if someone wanted strawberries, you could only eat them during certain times of the year. This is no longer an issue with the breakdown of time and space. Strawberries can now be eaten at all times of the year because they can be imported from all around the globe! Time and space has been compressed with the introduction and continued growth of technology and I cannot imagine how much more it will change in my life time.