Page 42 - Orange Butterfly Book 1
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There are many kinds of water clocks, but the most common ones were like hourglasses, but with water dripping from one bowl into another instead of sand. ancient egyptians are thought to be the creators of hourglasses too.
Water clocks were very popular in ancient Greece. plato, a famous philosopher, even created an alarm water clock that dumped lead balls onto a tray, making such a racket it could wake anyone up! By 325 B.C., water clocks had started their change into the clocks we know today. They now had a face with an hour hand instead of lines in a bowl. By 100 B.C., these water clocks were getting better and better, and now could ring every hour, and had doors that would open to show tiny figurines inside, like cuckoo clocks. Temperature made these clocks tricky though, since cold could make the water inside freeze.
Some of the best water clocks were made in persia. They were called fenjaan, and were incredibly accurate. They were used in daily life until 1965!
another kind of clock that people have used are candle clocks. These are very simple. They are simply candles with evenly spaced horizontal lines on them. When the candle has burned up and passed a line, it
Candle clock
http://www.n-d.be/products/ candle_clock/page_droite_ candle_clock.html
unit
Hourglass
http://www.beytel7ayah. org/mag/the-evolution-of- time-keeping/
means that half an hour, or any
determined amount of minutes,
has passed. Nobody knows who
first invented candle clocks, or
when, but they are mentioned
in a 6th century Chinese poem. it says that candle clocks were used as a way of telling the time after the sun set.
Mechanical clocks were first built in medieval Europe. They had gears and wheels that were moved because of weights. These clocks were very common in churches, since they had bells that would ring out when it was time to go to mass. The word clock actually comes from the word “Clocca” which means bell in medieval Latin. These clocks were not very accurate though, and it wasn’t until 1500 that the spring-powered clock was created, allowing it to be more exact.
Water clock (Persia)
http://www.beytel7ayah.org/mag/the- evolution-of-time-keeping/
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