Time is one of the most difficult categories to understand in philosophy and physics. It is easiest to define it as a necessary condition for the possibility of any change. People at the dawn of their history realized the need to somehow determine the course of time. At first, only sufficiently large intervals were measured: year, month, day. Drop by drop people noticed the dawns and sunsets, the changing seasons, their own aging. Gradually, it became necessary to determine shorter gaps. Hours, minutes, seconds appear. With the increasing complexity of human activity, methods for measuring time have also improved. Each gap has become more and more precise. There was an atomic and ephemeral second, an astronomical hour (“How much is this?” You ask. The answer is a bit lower). Today, in the focus of our attention is precisely the hour, the unit of time most often used in everyday life, as well as the hours, without which it is difficult to imagine the modern world.
A bit of history
It is easy to notice that the calculation of time is fundamentally different from the method of calculation adopted today. It is based on the duodecimal system, which was used by the Sumerians in ancient times. The division of hours into minutes also goes deep into time. It is based on a six-decimal number system, also invented in the Tigris and Euphrates.
The first to divide the day into 24 hours were the Egyptians. The hour then had a different duration depending on the season and on whether it belonged to night or day. The Egyptians and the Babylonians divided the day into two equal parts. Day and night, that is, dark and light time, included 12 hours. Accordingly, the duration of the hour varied in each half depending on the season.
Similar systems existed in Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages, on the territory of Europe, they were divided by church services per day.
The term "hour" was first used by the Greeks. Variable lengths of time have been maintained throughout the world for quite some time. In our country, in the XVI-XVII centuries, the hour was constant, but the number of hours changed day and night depending on the season. In Russia, time became similar to Europe after 1722.
Astronomical hour - how much?
The word "hour" is often used to denote different lengths of time, close to 60 minutes. Everyone knows what, for example, a quiet or curfew. The time periods indicated by these and similar concepts can last the usual 60 minutes, a little less or a little longer, or indicate not a period, but a specific moment of the day, after which one process should end and a new one should begin.
And how many minutes is an astronomical hour? This concept denotes a standard period of time, a fixed duration. It is the astronomical hour that is 60 minutes or 3600 seconds and is most often referred to simply as “hour”. This unit of time is not included in the modern metric system SI (International System of Units of Physical Quantities). One of the reasons - the hour does not belong to the usual decimal notation today. However, it is actively used all over the world along with the accepted SI units.
How long is the lesson?
Academic and astronomical hours are different concepts. The first term refers to the period of time during which the lesson lasts. Its value is not the same for different age groups. When working with children in kindergartens, educators shorten the duration of the academic hour to 20-30 minutes, a year before graduation it sometimes increases to 40 minutes. In schools, lessons last 40–45 minutes, couples at the university - 90 minutes. The reason for these differences is the ability to concentrate. With age, it increases. If you enter classes in the kindergarten for 45 minutes, and at school for 90 minutes, the students will be very tired and unlikely to remember and learn the material in the required amount.
Measuring minutes
Time in our minds is inextricably linked with the mechanisms by which we notice its running. The clock appeared at the same time when people first felt the need to somehow measure intervals shorter than a day. The exact date of their occurrence is now impossible to find out - so long ago it was. The first instances measured time, noting the movement of the Sun across the sky, and with the help of running water. Just like the base of the watch, sand and fire were used.
With the improvement of knowledge and the increasing pace of life, more and more precise constructions were required. The hourglass, fiery and water clocks were finalized and complicated, then mechanical time meters replaced them.
Gears, spring and pendulum
The oldest mechanical watches were found at the bottom of the sea off the island of Antikythera. They date back to 100 BC. Antikythera astronomical clocks are unique: they have a rather complicated design and have no analogues in the Hellenic culture. The mechanism, according to several undertaken reconstructions, consisted of 32 gears. The clock showed a change of days, the movement of the sun and moon. The dial depicted the signs of the zodiac. It is possible that the design was able to simulate the motion of the sky of Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter.
Anchor watches first appeared in China in 725. A little later, in 1000, a pendulum began to be used in Germany. The tower clock was the first in Western Europe to be built at Westminter in 1288.
Time-measuring mechanisms have become increasingly accurate. Their manufacture required considerable skills. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the most astonishing astronomical clocks are created in Europe, which are still admired by the whole world.
A masterpiece from Lyon
The oldest working astronomical clock in France adorns the cathedral in Saint-Jean (Lyon). They were created in the XIV century, destroyed, then restored from 1572 to 1600, decorated with Baroque decor in 1655. Initially, like all watches of this era, they were equipped only with a clockwise. The minute dial was established only in the 18th century.
In addition to time, looking at the astronomical clock of Lyon, anyone can find out the date, position in the sky of the two main luminaries, the Moon and the Sun. The mechanism also shows when the brightest stars rise above the city. During the day, the clock strikes four times (at 12, 14, 15, 16 hours). At the top of the structure are pupae that begin to move during the ringing.
Pride of Prague
The astronomical clock of the eagle, located on the tower of the town hall in Prague, is world famous. Their story can be called dramatic. Orla was created more than 600 years ago, in 1402, earned a little later - in 1410. The “fathers” of the watch are considered astronomer Jan Schindel and master Mikulas from Kadan.
The decoration of the city hall had to be repaired several times. In 1490, Ganush from Rouge made changes to the mechanism and, according to legend, was blinded by order of the Prague authorities, so that he could not repeat what was created again. Then the clock was decorated with allegorical figures and equipped with calendar discs.
Significant new design changes occurred in 1865. Then Joseph Manes added an eagle calendar dial with medallions decorated with symbolic images of the months, zodiac signs. The golden cockerel, which appears after the completion of the movement of the figures, appeared on the watch in 1882.
Eagle today
Prague watches amaze not only with their beauty, but also with the virtuosity of the work of the masters who created them. Orloi shows the old Bohemian, Babylonian, starry, Italian and, of course, the “present” time. By the clock you can find out the date, position of the Earth and the zodiac signs. They mark the rising and setting of the sun, moon. Every hour, the figures adorning the eagle begin to move, they talk about human vices, remind of the eternal.
Strasbourg Cathedral Clock
The astronomical clock of Strasbourg Cathedral was finally completed in 1857. Their predecessors were established in 1354 and 1574. The watch is unique in its ability to calculate the dates of passing church holidays, as well as a mechanism showing the precession of the earth's axis. Its full circulation is completed in more than 25 thousand years. The Strasbourg clock shows local and solar time, the orbits of the Earth, the Moon and the planet from Mercury to Saturn.
This is not a complete list of masterpieces that adorn different cities around the world. Even 1 astronomical hour (the same one, which is equal to 60 minutes) does not contain a description of all the subtleties of the mechanisms and the delightful decorations of such creations. However, this is not necessary - such masterpieces that embody the alloy of knowledge, skill, mathematical calculation and creative inspiration are best seen with your own eyes.