SPACE and TIME
WELCOME TO THE 4th DIMENSION!
![Boy on the phone with a speech bubble reading "Where are you?"](/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1a/2727511-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1a_full_495.png 495w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1a/2727511-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1a_full_990.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1a/2727511-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1a_full_1468.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1a/2727511-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1a_full_1980.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1a/2727511-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1a_full_2475.png 600w)
![Girl on the phone with a speech bubble reading "I'm on an aardvark on the corner of Bern St. and Ulm St."](/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1b/2727535-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1b_full_495.png 495w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1b/2727535-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1b_full_990.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1b/2727535-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1b_full_1468.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1b/2727535-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1b_full_1980.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1b/2727535-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1b_full_2475.png 600w)
![Boy on the phone with a speech bubble reading "That doesn't answer my question!"](/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1c/2727523-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1c_full_495.png 495w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1c/2727523-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1c_full_990.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1c/2727523-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1c_full_1468.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1c/2727523-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1c_full_1980.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip1c/2727523-3-eng-US/dimension_strip1c_full_2475.png 600w)
![speech bubble reading "Whoa! Check this out!" with hand pointing to text that follows](/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip2/2727152-3-eng-US/dimension_strip2_full_495.png 495w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip2/2727152-3-eng-US/dimension_strip2_full_990.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip2/2727152-3-eng-US/dimension_strip2_full_1468.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip2/2727152-3-eng-US/dimension_strip2_full_1980.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip2/2727152-3-eng-US/dimension_strip2_full_2475.png 600w)
Time is the fourth dimension. So to know where you are, you have to know what time it is.
![Boy with a speech bubble reading "So now answer the question... Where are you?"](/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip3/2727164-2-eng-US/dimension_strip3_full_495.png 495w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip3/2727164-2-eng-US/dimension_strip3_full_990.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip3/2727164-2-eng-US/dimension_strip3_full_1468.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip3/2727164-2-eng-US/dimension_strip3_full_1980.png 600w,/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/amnh/images/explore/ology-images/physics/space-and-time/dimension_strip3/2727164-2-eng-US/dimension_strip3_full_2475.png 600w)
Your complete answer should be "I'm sitting on a 4-foot-high aardvark at the northeast corner of Bern St. and Ulm St., and it's July 1st, 2002, at 1:23 p.m. on my watch." Einstein called a description that used four dimensions an event.
*By "space," we mean the space that is all around us, not just outer space.
Image Credits:
Kid photos: courtesy of Denis Finnin, AMNH; It's All Relative: Jim Paillot; Rabbit, elephant, and ant: Francesco Santalacia; You Light Up My Life!: Cathy Sanchez Duvivier