Dec 22 2023 - Around the Clock

 

Do clocks seem simple to you?  Do you wonder why they are round, and why they divide time into two 12 hour chunks and not a full 24 increments? Sundials come in different shapes - round, square and "neither" - there are odd compositions- they all contain the "gnomon" - that's the pointy thing that casts the shadow.  There are vertical and horizontal sundials.  There are declining-reclining and declining-inclining dials.  There are a lot of variations.  There has been many thousands of years to figure these out and develop new variations.  Clocks have to be round for a scientific reason: It turns out to be because the circle is the most efficient shape for measuring time.   "This is because a circle has a constant circumference, which means that each point on the circle travels the same distance in the same amount of time. In other words, a clock with a circular face can accurately measure time regardless of where the hands are positioned." And what about the 12-hour clock? I had no idea that when the darkness came, a water clock was used for night-time.  What is a water clock?  It uses the flow of water to measure time.  Water clocks are old - 16th century BC old.   "There are two types of water clocks: inflow and outflow. In an outflow water clock, a container is filled with water, and the water is drained slowly and evenly out of the container. This container has markings that are used to show the passage of time. As the water leaves the container, an observer can see where the water is level with the lines and tell how much time has passed. An inflow water clock works in basically the same way, except instead of flowing out of the container, the water is filling up the marked container." How interesting our everyday things are.  Science project 101:  Build a water clock to show the drip, drip, drip of time. And humour and sundials? Queen Elizabeth and Sir David Attenborough are walking through the gardens at Buckingham Palace, when they come across a sundial in the shade of a tree. The Queen: Maybe we could move it...  Attenborough: Depends whether you want to know the time or not.  The Queen: Best leave it be then, as a joke. The best jokes are timeless, after all.

Here's a lily lover's Christmas card. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca