Back in Time is an education book app for iOS about the history of the universe, earth, life and mankind that uses a time analogy to explain different timescales. Released on September 22, 2011, it was developed by the software company

Landka Landka is a mobile software development company focused on educational apps. Notable products include Back in Time, Kiwaka and Art Legacy. History The Portuguese company was founded in 2010 and gained notability with its flagship product Back ...

in collaboration with scientific institutions such as

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1 ...

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

. The app was featured worldwide in the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

and rapidly became a success, reaching the top sales of iPad book apps in 38 countries. ''Back in Time'' was distinguished by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and selected for the top 10 apps of the year. In 2012 it was recognized with a

World Summit Award The World Summit Awards (WSA) is an awards system that selects and promotes local digital innovation to improve society. WSA is an international platform focused on broadcasting cutting-edge examples of how Information and Communications Techno ...

( UN based initiative).

Features

''Back in Time'' is a cross between a history textbook and a multimedia encyclopedia. The app presents 50 key events since the beginning of the universe until the present day covering different timescales such as the

chronology of the universe The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology. Research published in 2015 estimates the earliest stages of the universe's existence as taking place 13.8 billion years ago, wit ...

, the

geological history of earth Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other E ...

, the

evolutionary history of life The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for '' gigaannum'') and evid ...

and

human history Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied t ...

. In order to better understand these timescales, the app proposes a time analogy where the entire

age of the universe In physical cosmology, the age of the universe is the time elapsed since the Big Bang. Astronomers have derived two different measurements of the age of the universe: a measurement based on direct observations of an early state of the universe, ...

(13.7 billion years) is scaled into a 24-hour clock. Navigation is possible by browsing several timelines or by rewinding the pointers of a clock to go back in time. The text of each chapter is complemented with images, videos, interactive timelines, animations and trivia. The app's soundtrack was produced by

Rodrigo Leão Rodrigo Costa Leão Muñoz Miguez (born 15 October 1964), known professionally as Rodrigo Leão, is a Portuguese musician and songwriter. He became known in the 1980s as a member of the Portuguese groups Sétima Legião and Madredeus. In the 1990s ...

Time analogy

''Back in Time'' presents the most relevant events in history using a 24-hour clock as a time analogy. This analogy scales the entire

(13.7 billion years) into a single day (24 hours) so that the beginning of the universe (Big Bang) started at 0:00h and at present time the imaginary clock reads 24:00h. ''Back in Time'' uses this analogy as a method to visualize and compare key events in the

history of the universe History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, of

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

, and

. This analogy was originally proposed by Astronomer Bob Lambert from the

John J. McCarthy Observatory This is a list of observatory codes (IAU codes or MPC codes) published by the Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical ...

as a tool for helping students visualizing large timescales. * milliseconds before midnight

Development and release

''Back in Time'' was developed by the Portuguese software company

over a period of 10 months. The iPad version was released on the

on September 22, 2011. The initial version included 44 chapters and was available in 5 languages (English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese). Subsequent upgrades included additional chapters, translation into two more languages (Chinese and Japanese) and support for retina display. A dedicated version for iPhone was released in December 2011. In June 2013, a version of the app for Microsoft Windows was released as a result of a collaboration between the developers and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the devel ...

with the purpose of showcase the capabilities of

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and later to ...

Reception and awards

Upon release, ''Back in Time'' was featured in the

worldwide and rapidly became a success, reaching the top sales of iPad book apps in 38 countries. The app received generally positive reviews from the users (4.8/5.0 rating score on the App Store) and press. ''Back in Time'' was featured by ''

'' for the top 10 apps of the year. The app was selected by the American Photo Magazine for the top 10 Photo eBooks of the year, distinguished by BBC as one of the 10 best history apps, and was recommended by several education publications. In 2012, Back in Time won a

( UN based initiative) for Learning and Education.

References

External links

{{Official website, http://landka.com/apps/back-in-time/ IOS software Educational software Educational technology 2011 software