Time Through Technology

Celestial bodies - the sun, moon, planets, and stars - have provided us a reference for measuring the passage of time throughout human existence. Ancient civilizations like: China, India, Babylon, and Greece relied upon the apparent motion of these bodies through the sky to record and determine seasons, months, and years. We know little about the details of timekeeping in prehistoric eras. However, records and artifacts usually uncover that in every culture, people were preoccupied with measuring and recording the passage of time. Stonehenge, built over 4000 years ago in England has no written records, but its alignments show its purposes apparently included the determination of seasonal or celestial events, such as lunar

Astrological calendars have been in existence since ancient times where time was measured according to the number of Moons that had passed in a certain period, or in consonance with the shadows that were cast by either the Sun or Moon. Solar years are calculated based on the sun’s motions, whereas lunar years are mutually based on the moons motions. A lunar year consists of approximately 354 days, whereas there are 365 days in solar year. By virtue of the eleven day disparity between a solar and lunar year, an additional month is added to the lunar calendar every three years, and as for the solar calendar, every fourth year, a leap day is added to the month of February. A lunar year is comprised of twelve lunar months, which corresponds to the time that elapses as the moon carries out each of its phases and proceeds to its position of origin. In contrast, a solar month is one twelfth of a solar year, given that a solar year is span of time that elapses as the Earth completes a single revolution around the sun.

It is believed to be an astronomical clock used for agricultural. This theory is accurate when considering the other archaeological finds when surveying the area in which it was found. Some notable examples are the Stonehenge and Newgrange. Both use the solstices to predict correct planting and harvesting times. As the Bronze Age was an agricultural moment, the people livelihoods were based and surrounded by the agriculture system. The Nebra Sky Disk was later discovered to be an astronomical device in which it acted as a lunar calendar which is based on the phases of the moon. However, the lunar calendars had an issue of not being in sync. The synchronisation of the seasons was vital for the survival for agriculture. The Nebra sky disk was use to decide when an intercalary month should be added the lunar calendar. This finding had baffled researchers and archaeologist because the concept of intercalary months was not to be discussed until the time of the Mesopotamians, one thousand years later. The esteemed knowledge that Bronze Age people had shown through with the knowledge of harmonization of solar and lunar calendars. Babylonian documents contain a calculation that depicts the crescent moon on the Nebra Sky disk. Per Babylonian rule, an intercalary month should be added when the moon is in conjunction with the Pleiades constellation. So, the disk was put up the sky and if the sky match the desk, they would then add an intercalary

Stonehenge has a long relationship with astronomers. Back in 1720, Dr Halley used magnetic deviation and the position of the rising sun to estimate the age of Stonehenge. He concluded the date was 460 BC. And, in 1771, John Smith mused that the estimated total of 30 sarsen stones multiplied by 12 astrological signs equalled 360 days of the year, while the inner circle represented the lunar month. When

Most agree though, that it offers a graphic representation of the Mexica cosmos’ (Palfrey). In The Aztecs, Smith sums up what is to be believed the thought of the Aztecs when they carved the calendar stone “The Aztec calendar stone conveyed the message that the Aztec empire covered the whole earth (territory in all four directions), and that it was founded upon the sacred principles of time, directionality, divine warfare, and the sanction of the gods” (Smith 270). Keeping the Aztec calendar is proof of ancient cultures mathematical and scientific achievements without the aid of modern technology. The study of the sun stone could lead to further advances in mathematics and acts as a road map to our celestial bodies from that era of our history.

When Banneker was 22, he borrowed a pocket watch from a neighbor, took it apart, drew a picture of each component, put it back together, and then returned it. Banneker then proceeded to carve, out of wood, enlarged replicas of each part. Figuring out the proper number of teeth for each gear and the necessary relationships between the gears, he made a working wooden clock that kept accurate time and struck the hours for over 40 years until it was destroyed in a house fire.

We all use counters every day. Whether it be in our watches, or even something like our washing machines, digital counters are found in nearly anything that involves timing (Electronics Hub, 2015).

Print out the image of a clock and open the spreadsheet called Grapher. You will find both of

Cahalan’s clock: “[she] had squished all the numbers, 1 through 12, onto the right-hand side of the circle… with the twelve o’clock landing almost exactly where the six o’clock should have been.” Since Cahalan had only drawn her numbers on the right side of the clock, it “showed that the right

A calendar is smarter than a clock because it has to know more, national holidays, seasons of the year, phases of the moon, birthdays, even leap year. The clock only needs to know 12 hours and an a.m. or p.m. The calendar goes months into the future and plans way ahead.

Before clocks and watches were invented, sundials used the position of the Sun to determine the time. As the sun rises and falls in the sky, a shadow is cast on the dial correlating to hour lines marked on the sundial. President John Quincy Adams wrote a poem personifying the use of the sundial. One must first grasp an understanding of the life John Quincy Adams, the time period the poem was created in, before the focus of “To The Sun-Dial” can be comprehended.

In 1963, British astronomer Gerald Hawkins published an article in Nature, followed by a book, Stonehenge Decoded, and proposed a hypothesis for at least one purpose of this ancient monument. Standing in the center of Stonehenge, Hawkins recognized twenty-four lines of sight amongst the stones, and later discovered that these lines pointed to significant astronomical events. The most famous of these are the alignments that point to the spot on the horizon on which the sun rises on the summer and winter solstices; but there were many lines pointing to the rising and setting of the full moon near to those dates as well. Hawkins discovered that Stonehenge was not only a religious site, but also an “astronomical observatory” and calendar. Stonehenge was a device by which the builders could tell, on an annual basis, when Earth arrived at a certain point in its orbit around the sun. (Trefil

This exquisite clock is made of rich red-colored wood and crowned with gilt bronze. The bronze is carved in delicate shapes and etched daintily. Within the clock face is another piece of gilded bronze that gleams brighter than the rest of the bronze on the clock. On that small face small flowers and other foliage is carved. The hands on the clock are twisted and delicate, and a third hand is made of bronze which has a sun on the end. This clock displays both solar time, and the twenty-four hours of the day.

The ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches are like any other calendar. It is used to count hours, the time of years, and months. “When counting years, people use them with the 12 Chinese Zodiac [signs] . . .” (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches). The Yellow Emperor also known as Huangdi summand Da Rao Shi to make a calendar. Da Rao Shi created the calendar system. He studied the four seasons and the differences between earth and sky.

Ancient Indian astrology is based upon sidereal calculation. The sidereal astronomy is based upon the stars and the sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. It can be traced to the final centuries BC with the Vedanga Jyotisha attributed to Lagadha, one of the circum-Vedic texts, which describes rules for tracking the motions of the Sun and the Moon for the purposes of ritual. After formation of Indo-Greekkingdoms, Indian astronomy was influenced by Hellenistic astronomy (adopting the zodiacal signs or rāśis). Identical numerical computations for lunar cycles have been found to be used in India and in early Babylonian texts.[11]