When they first invented the clock, how did they know what time it was to set it to?
2006-12-07 05:57:02 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
They guessed? I have often wondered that myself. Who is to say that it is really 1:58 pm now? Maybe something got messed up years ago and it really is 9:49 am . . . but there's no way to fix it now. Oh, well . . .
2006-12-07 05:59:33 · answer #1 · answered by quatrapiller 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It had to do with the sun dials of their time. The sun dials were never wrong because the position of the sun in the sky was as accurate as you can get. Upon invention of the clock and the watch, they set the time in a 24-hour fashion that included 12 AM and 12 PM (since the sun was only out for the 12 PM, the first clocks were set to noon). Minutes, during that time, were not important. If you had a meeting at 3:00 PM, and you were a quarter-hour late (fifteen minutes) you were considered absent from that meeting completely.
2006-12-07 06:01:42 · answer #2 · answered by Cold Fart 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By using the sun we know when it is dawn noon or evening. by looking at the position of the moon we can tell the approximate time at night i guess people got tired of running out side every time they wanted to know the approximate time of day or night. It is easier to look at a clock. Different time in different parts of the world and now day lights saving time-who knows what is next a time machine maybe?
2006-12-07 06:08:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ever see a sun dial? Natural clock!
2006-12-07 05:59:09 · answer #4 · answered by wish I were 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The first answer was delicious. ;)
They probably set it by sundial or something. Since the Sundial uses the sun, when they came up with those they couldn't be set. Whenever the sun was directly overhead it was noon.
2006-12-07 06:00:19 · answer #5 · answered by jeff_is_sexy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First come; first served. I guess if you are the inventor of a device to measure time you get to set the device to what ever you want to.
2006-12-07 05:59:05 · answer #6 · answered by Answergirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they called information. ;)
it's not impossible - it is an arbitrary construction. Humands decided "noon" was when the sun was (more or less) directly over head, and measured the time between those occurances.
2006-12-07 05:58:08 · answer #7 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would have been set from the sun or stars
2006-12-07 05:58:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Used the sun. Then refined it a few years back with atoms.
2006-12-07 05:59:11 · answer #9 · answered by calldean 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
From the time on the sun dial...
2006-12-07 05:59:38 · answer #10 · answered by bartman40467 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋