Preview

The Clock

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1021 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Clock
A ‘clock’ is an instrument used to specify, record, and manage time. The word ‘clock’ comes from the French word “cloche” meaning bell, came into use when timekeepers were kept in bell towers in the Middle Ages. Historians do not who or when mankind “invented” a time-keeping device or a “clock”. Probably thousands of years ago when someone stuck a stick in the ground and saw a shadow of the sun move across the ground, known as the sundial. (Cummings, 1997-2012). After the Samarian culture left little knowledge behind, the Egyptians were next to divide their day in two parts. A vertical stick, or obelisk that is used to cast a shadow is known as a sundial. They were used as early as 3500 B.C.. Another shadow clock or sundial, possibly the first portable timepiece, came into use around 1500 B.C. to measure the passage of hours. As the sun moves from east to west, the shadows predict the time of the day. They also showed the year's longest and shortest days when the shadow at noon was the shortest or longest of the year.
The Greeks used a sundial called “pelekinon”. These sundials are marked to predict time accurately throughout the year. They built a more accurate sundial based on their knowledge of geometry. An ancient Egyptian sundial from the 8th century and a Greek sundial are still in existence today. Water clocks along with sundials are known to be the oldest time-measurements devices. The bowl-shaped outflow is the simplest form of a water clock and is known to have existed in Babylon and in Egypt around the 16th century BC. Other regions of the world, including India and China, also have early evidence of water clocks, but the earliest dates are less certain. Some authors, however, claim that water clocks appeared in China as early as 4000 BC. (Cowan, 1958)
Ctesibius or Ktesibios or Tesibius (Greek: Κτησίβιος) (fl. 285–222 BC) was a Greek inventor and mathematician in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt. (As of 2008, 1768–2010) He improved the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    2.10 study guide

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The gnomon or sun-shadow disk- operated like a sundial, enabling the user to determine his latitude by the length of the sun's shadow cast on a disk floating level in water.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1753, a 22 year old Benjamin Banneker sat industriously carving cogs and gears out of wood, and he pieced the parts together to create the complex inner workings of a striking clock, that would hopefully chime every hour. All he had to help him was a pocket watch for inspiration and his own calculations, and yet his careful engineering worked. Striking clocks have already been around hundreds of years before that time, but Banneker's may have been the first created…

    • 571 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    the mechanical clock our brain has adapted to work just like a computer. The internet…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I think that is so interesting that the Mayan ruins, El Castillo (137), and the phenomenon of the appearance of a snake slithering down the north side of the west staircase are connected to the spring and fall equinoxes and solstices. Architecture, astronomy and religion have always been intertwined and so much of early civilizations belief systems were based on astrological occurrences and how they interpreted the skies. The four sides of the structure have 91 steps, which, when added to the top structure equals to 365, the number of days in a calendar year.…

    • 95 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mayans and the Aztecs continually watched the stars as a way of predicting the future and interpreting religious phenomena. The Mayans built a number of observatories in their various city states, with a notable one in the city of Chechen Itza. Through the careful and detailed observations the Mayans made, they were able to accurately to predict the transit of Venus as well as construct a clock that, by some accounts, was more accurate than today’s atomic clock. The Mayans furthermore used the stars to schedule sacrifices, write the Mayan Codices, and orient buildings. The impact of celestial alignment on culture is not unique to this area; archaeoastronomy focuses on how ancients used astronomy around the world, in places like Stonehenge and the great pyramids in Egypt. The Aztecs likewise used the stars as a means of scheduling religious holidays that required human sacrifice, as well as to predict the future and to orient pyramids, just…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Harrison was a simple clockmaker and a self-educated person who was accredited for finding longitude by means of a timekeeper. John built his first pendulum watch in 1713. It was constructed entirely out of wood. Harrison called his first sea clock Harrison’s No. 1 or H-1 for short. H-1 was bar-shaped, built out of shinny brass, and was big in size. His second attempt was called H-2. H-2 was a heavy weight of 86 pounds, but fitted into a small box as John promised it would. H-2 was also bar-shaped and included an implement to ensure a unchanging drive and a more agreeable temperature reimbursement device. Although its motion was adequately regular and exact for finding the longitude of a ship within the…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Astronomy was one of the greatest achievements of the Mayan Empire. The Mayan Empire knew how many days were in a year and showed that they knew fall spring equinox. They demonstrated their knowledge of astronomy on their Pyramid of Kukulkan which they built their city around. The Mayan had 365 steps leading up the pyramid of Kukulkan one for each day of the year. They also demonstrated their knowledge of astronomy through the autumn and spring equinox. Every spring and fall equinox a snake shadow…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare used the moon as a clock to emphasize the time and eagerness for Hippolyta and Theseus’ wedding day and the sun is moving too slowly or waning.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ancient Chinese Inventions

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Along with the above we have mechanical clock mechanisms. This was invented around 725 AD. This clock operated by dripping water that powered a wheel, which made one full revolution in 24 hours. A bronze and iron system of wheels and gears made the clock rotate. Accurate mechanical clocks were developed because of a belief in the form of astrology. This was based upon the moment of conception rather than the time of birth.…

    • 1524 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pi Day

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages

    * Ptolemy- Ptolemy was an observer and mathematician who had written on astronomical topics such as conjunctions. He devised proofs and theorems in which he was able to evaluate pi. His calculations were…

    • 364 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anaximander, another thinker from Miletus, is credited with the invention of the gnomon. The gnomon is the raised piece of the sundial that is responsible for creating a shadow that marks time. In addition, Anaximander was the first to create a map of the inhabited world. Instead of being heavily concerned with philosophies concerning political and ethical inquires, like Plato and Socrates, Thales and Anaximander favored discovering cosmic and earthly occurrences. Congruent with Thales thoughts on nature and divine intervention, Anaximander believed that the order of the natural world is internal, and not imposed from outside. Nonetheless, instead of believing solely in water as the main principle of life, like Thales, Anaximander believed…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Think about how you check the time each day. Mostly likely, you check your phone or watch. In ancient times, that kind of technology wasn’t available. So, how could early people check the time? The answer was the sundial.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How the World Was Made

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    As it dried, it grew dark so they got the sun and set in a track to go around everyday at a specific time. They took the sun, but it was really hot so they pushed it a little further until it was the right temperature for them to look around.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eratosthenes set up a gnomon, a simple upright stick. When the sun was overhead at noon, he measured the angle of the shadow that the stick cast in Alexandria. He determined the angle to be 7.2 degrees from vertical.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    clocks

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Some water clock designs were developed independently and some knowledge was transferred through the spread of trade. These early water clocks were calibrated with a sundial. While never reaching a level of accuracy comparable to today's standards of timekeeping, the water clock was the most accurate and commonly used timekeeping device for millennia, until it was…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays