Hey Steemians, It just sounds weird but just imagine a world where there is no such thing like 10:30 am or 2:17 am or half past nine , sounds much fascinating right ? 13.7 billion years ago , It all began with an explosion.Everything including time was born in a split of a second.
From smartphone to smartwatches, clocks are everywhere these days.But actually for many human existence in past, they lived with keeping in mind that Sun rays was the only thing that was closest to the clock. We woke up when sun came up, eat when we were hungry and slept when the sun came down.We have been using some water clocks, sands and the sun dials to keep track of time for thousands of years.But, Now time becomes mechanical.It's so amazing that the science that has made so many modern things from your Iphone to the Internet possibly can be traced back to this balanced little spring shown in figure.
In 1657, it was an era like buying a coffee for first time in Paris, chocolate in London and even a balanced spring. This balanced spring had a coil in between and becomes movable like back and forth without stopping after a gentle push.Suddenly we had a reliable way of measuring something that had always been momentary and people wandered if time can be measured, what else could be?
People started thinking like a modern scientist observing and measuring for about 50 years. The outcome gave a first calculator, first piano, first cook-coo clock, first reflected telescope and even a first bottle of champagne.When the clocks became smaller,and people kept in different shapes and sizes.They put it in ships where the sailors used in navigation of their position in the Seas in an age of discovery and trade. Ultimately, the universe itself became one that could be measured, studied and eventually explore one and lived on God.
There's a another side to this history because though the technology changes the world, there is even something else it changes to something that's so precise.We hardle ever notice it. To see this we need to go back to that balanced spring stage in 1657 and give another gentle push.It oscillates back and forth.Time is not a fluid thing but it is divided into a series of uniform equally spaced moments and it seems like its not a big deal.Its does something overwhelming because if we started to wonder that time could be broken up into small uniform pieces, what else could be ?
We don't eat when we are hungry, we eat when it's time to eat, we don't sleep when we are tired but sleep when it's time to sleep.
When we industrialize time, we also and completely by accident mechanized us and when the clocks are made smaller, it could follow us everywhere with a constant reminder of hours ,minutes and even a seconds lost or one now. We have built an amazing world that keeps running like a clockwork meaning that these days, so do we !
Now, this isn't a bad thing !We have come a long way but this technology doesn't even just change the world .It changes how we perceive it often in the fundamental ways.
Anyway, how did telling the time come from ?
The first form of telling the time just came from a sun dial and the earliest sundials known was from the archaeological records are obelisks from nearly 5,000 years ago . The sundial works in telling the time by casting a shadow on the surface. The stick used for casting a shadow in the center is called gnomon. A good construction of the sundial can measure the time with a remarkable accuracy. These were used to monitor and measure the performance and accuracy of clocks until modern era.But this have a limitation too ! Obviously, It only needs a sunshine to measure and doesn't work during the night when it's dark. Many devices have been used in past and present to measure the passage of time .
Fig: Time measurement by Sundial (credit)
Candles and burning sticks of incense that burn down at fairly calculable and predictable speeds have been used, along with an hourglass.Hourglass is a device consisting of fine sands and these sands pour down a tiny hole at a constant rate indicating a constant period of time .On the 14th century it all began its origin which is uncertain. It was commonly used by the shipboards .The motion on the boat on the water also didn't affect its calculation unlike other time machines like sundials.
Fig: Time measurement by Hourglass (credit)
On the 13th century the mechanical clock evolved which revolutionized a whole world by timekeeping methods.This modern clock depend upon the swing of a pendulum or vibration of a quartz crystal by energy source cells which was more profound than the sand hourglass and sundials
But, Why does it matter that we keep track of time ?
Well, Time regulates our daily lives and activities .It makes it possible to accurately communicate with people all over the world.Without time, it would be hard in conducting social structures,farming, communication and even business issues.
Any knowledge on time zone?
Ok, time zone is the region on earth that has a uniform standard time. All together , there are 40 time zones on land because the earliest and the latest time zones has a 26 hours apart from each other. Time zone irons out some differences and makes the communication significantly smoother. So, any date given on a calendar exists at some point on a globe for 50 hours.