Time Measurement Question?

Question

Before time was measured in seconds, minutes, and hours were there any other forms of time measurement?

Apparently the first people to subdivide time where the Egyptians around 2000bc.
So were there forms of time measurement that sprung up throughout history that have since died out, or did all time measurement spread across the world from Egypt?

Answer 1

La Belles answer is riddled with mistakes. I cant believe you voted this as the best answer instead of taking to google and learning the facts. Weight around your waist IS MORE DANGEROUS than any other kind of body fat, not the torso. In women the waist should not measure more than 31.5 inches (slightly bigger for some Eastern/Asian women because of how their body breaks down fat). I don't know where La Belles information has come from but it's almost as if it's deliberately wrong. There is not "supposed" to be a 10 inch difference between bust, waist and hips. That is the most ignorant and cruel comment I've ever seen. The MAJORITY of women will never achieve that because the majority of women are reported to be banana body types, next comes pears, then apples and then the hourglass which studies show make up less than 10% of women. At 5 foot 8, with those measurements La Belle is almost certainly underweight. I'm shorter and wider in the waist and hips and... wait for it... underweight according to the BMI. As I have a small bone structure my doctors have no concerns for me, but hers must do if she's been given weight gain pills. The only people who can get away with 24 inch waists are short women. 30 is not too big, it's not unhealthy and that's the main thing to worry about. It is however only a mere inch and a half away and as a womans weight can fluctuate often it's worth keeping an eye on.

Answer 2

Time has been measured since we've had anything that moved in periodic intervals. That includes the first devices or natural phenomenon which occur in periodic intervals.

Methods of measuring these intervals depends on the nature of the period observed.

Earth circles the sun in the exact same amount of time every year. This means that that inverval of time is periodic. Our galaxy spins, taking the same amount of time every time it revolves.

The system is contained.

The Earth also turns in circles always at the same speed, producing a periodic pattern of revolution.

Electrons circle the nucleus of an atom at regular intervals.

Quartz vibrates at a certain frequency when certain circumstances are met. This is probably the most commonly used method of measuring time.

Another method is found within the atomic clock, where the random degradation of a radioactive substance is measured, always at the same rate.

Such intervals of time are converted to units of time that we're familiar to as seconds, which compose minutes and so on.
Our first method of measuring time would have most definitely been the rising and setting of the sun, the movement of the moon and changing of the seasons.

Answer 3

In ancient periods they used sun dial .

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. The most commonly seen designs, such as the 'ordinary' or standard garden sundial, cast a shadow on a flat surface marked with the hours of the day. As the position of the sun changes, the time indicated by the shadow changes. However, sundials can be designed for any surface where a fixed object casts a predictable shadow.

Most sundial designs indicate apparent solar time. Minor design variations can measure standard and daylight saving time, as well.

SOURCE:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundial

Answer 4

The rate at which a candle burned.

The dripping rate of water out of a can with a small hole in it.

Galleio used a pendulem in a church during an earthquake (Ignoring the sermon!) and counted using his pulse as a clock.

Answer 5

By measuring the length of one's shadow with feet.

Answer 6

The Romans hijacked the sundial technology and put them in all town squares.

Answer 7

time was measured by where the sun was in the sky.

Answer 8

they read the stars before hours and minutes

Answer 9

other people thought of other ways i think