Here you can find out what exactly is a sundial, how does it works and what is the history and purpose behind its creation. There are also northern and southern sundials hemispheres. And sundial charts. All this information is covered in this blog to provide you with exact and brief explanation.
What Is Exactly A Sundial
Long before, when there were no clocks or watches. Human beings had to come up with something, with the help of which they can understand the accurate time. And they also needed a device that could tell time so it would be much convenient for them than to depend on sunlight so they can tell time. So for all these purposes humans invented “Sundial”. That is what it is called. And the concept of sundial is very simple and easy to understand.
A flat surface is taken and they made sure to make it look more attractive to look, they placed a style view. So the flat surface plain style can read the sunshine because it moves across the sky, and also because the days go by and thus the sun’s angle will change relatively to the timepiece placed, and the shadow by the design will change accordingly.
How Does Sundial Tells Time?
Now that you know what exactly a sundial is, you can easily understand how its structure can help it to show time. On a sundial there is this rod type structure that acts as a substitution for a blade, and the rod is referred as, Gnomon which give out the meaning as “one that knows” or “examine”. Gnomon is a word that comes from Greek and is pronounced with the (G) silent, (no-mon). For sundial to work properly, the gnomon of sundial shall be aligned parallel and in the centre of the axis of Earth, otherwise gnomon will be changing its position throughout the year as the earth does it. And in this way the accuracy of sundial is preserved. As to progress to mathematically more sophisticated sundials were being build later on as calculations provide the very accuracy that can be appreciated. And with the help of this modifications, it was possible to make cylindrical and spherical sundials. Just before figuring out these things, sundials were able to provide quite accuracy in showing the time of the day.
Sundials Are Dependent On
All with the accurate factors sundials are dependent on the seasons. And also sundials work accordingly to the locations. The dial makers on the sundial take in the account of latitude and longitude of the location where they are being used. And also they calculate the directions od northern and southern hemispheres and their diallers work accordingly. Now when we talk about northern hemispheres the gnomons have to point north, while when we talk about southern hemispheres they need to point towards south and so in this way they will achieve to avoid any type of miscalculations.
Who Invented The Sundials
The oldest of sundials were discovered from the late Egyptians. They were found in the ancient Babylon and Egyptian kingdoms. To give a proper number, the exact years old the fist found sundial was (35,00) years. There was another hypothesis too, and that stated that before these shadow clocks, large and vertical stone blocks (obelisks) were also in use to tell time. However the mote ancient obelisks were more in use than the later modified ones due to different features.
The Chinese are also expected to have invented sundials long time ago, but it could be confirmed due to the lack of proper proofs and records. Now without any other evidence this is the only record that justifies the invention of sundials. In the oldest time, people used sun and shadow to specify times and invented such tools to help them go through the process but as the time passed these tools were vanished over time.
Work Of Romans, Egyptians And Greeks For Sundial
With time passing Egyptians, Romans and Greeks worked on sundial to modify it into a more accurately time showing tool. Romans were working very effectively and were successful to develop new series of designs for sundials, that may include concave conical and concave hemisphere surfaces. And these worked more according to the sunlight than shadows present and to make this modification possible they had to use a small hole instead of Gnomons. They were successful to build a huge sundial too, at the Solarium Augusti, to present the honor to one of their emperors, named Augustus, and this took place in 10 BC. On the other hand, the designs made by Greeks made inside the borders of Arab too, and lived on to the days of Renaissance. They remained popular until the 16th Century as at that point the pocket watches were already in shape and then pendulum clocks gradually led to the discovery of new world clocks, also known as electric clocks
Washington Monument Sundial
The Washington monument sundial is a huge sundial, and it is so huge that it is possible to see it even through Google maps, which is just insane. The towers’ shadow changes with the time of the day and by watching this sundial one can go way back into the history of time and how humans have modified their ways over different time periods.
Did You Know About Medieval Sundials
Sundials were playing an important role in the Muslim countries too, and it was the time period of Medieval. Arabs took help of geometry and trigonometry to modify sundials, and so they can get more accurate results. Just like Romans and Greeks Arabs worked on the sundials too, as it was proven helpful for them in different aspects.
The history of tools and inventions that may not be present today or are just rare, can be fascinating to find out and same is the case with the study of sundials. It is incredible how people have been making history and modifications have been happening since the birth of human mind and it will keep on going.
Further Information:
