Dear John, That's an excellent point, but of course time is used for more than determing when the sun will be visible. A sundial is actually a poor indicator even of what it does best, as the time of sunset varies by as much as 6 hours from solstice to solstice (here in Michigan). So really what good does it do someone to determine the length of rotation besides as a yard stick to measure other temporal phenomena?
<<Dear Troy, Do you think it would be safe to say that a sundial is the ONLY clock which automatically keeps up with the earth's slowing rotation rate because it will always divide the day into 24 hours, no matter how long the day is? As the earth's rotation slows and the days become longer, won't seconds, minutes and hours become longer also? Surely, in the distant future there won't be 25 hour days, but longer 24 hr. days. Right? John Carmichael Tucson Az>>
