Probably the best book on the invention and impact of mechanical clocks is "Revolution in Time" by David S. Landes. Not sure if it's still in print. Brad
On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 5:09 PM, R Wall <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi Brent, > > That reminds be of a book that I read that indicated that some society or > club meetings were held on certain days close to the full moon. For example, > every month on the Thursday after the full moon at 9pm. I assume that was to > allow you to use the moon light to travel at night in the days when there > was no street lighting. I suppose they could have used a moon dial to > determine 9pm because there would be moon light. > > Roderick Wall. > > -----Original Message----- From: Brent > Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 8:41 AM > To: Sundial List > Subject: life before clocks > > > I wonder what life was like before mechanical clocks. > > I suppose your day was less structured than ours are today. > Maybe to work at sunrise, go home at sunset. > Eat when you are hungry, sleep when you are tired. > > I wonder how many people used sundials? Was it a common thing to have? > Was it a necessity? > > How did everyone show up on time for a 9pm Opera? > > What was the accurate time of day good for back then? > > Before mechanical clocks you probably wasted a lot of time waiting for > people or events. > > Who cared about accurate time, and why? > > Churches? > Armies? > Courts? > Scientists? > Governments? > Sailers? > > Sundials became very sophisticated, but why? > > thanks; > brent > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1153 / Virus Database: 424/3265 - Release Date: 11/18/10 > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > >
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