Does everyone realise...

alexachucarro

alexachucarro

I'm 1/4 Basque you know?...
...if someone other than the Swiss invented the clocks and more importantly the Sundial (whoever invented them (Pagans?)), the hands on a clock would go round the other way!!!

That's scary.
 
Clocks were invented by the Babylonians, waaay before the Swiss came along.
And the reason they go "clockwise" is superstition. If you circle around an object in the clockwise direction, your right hand is toward the object. This is considered good luck, as opposed to circling it with your left hand (your "sinister" hand) toward it, which is bad luck.
 
Originally posted by genghiscohen
Clocks were invented by the Babylonians, waaay before the Swiss came along.
And the reason they go "clockwise" is superstition. If you circle around an object in the clockwise direction, your right hand is toward the object. This is considered good luck, as opposed to circling it with your left hand (your "sinister" hand) toward it, which is bad luck.
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I thought the Romans were the ones with the whole left handed/sinister thing. Hence the Latin for left actually means sinister, they were about a long time after the babylonians.
 
Originally posted by alexachucarro
... and more importantly the Sundial (whoever invented them (Pagans?))
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Hey Ed, looks like you can take credit for the sundial in the religion thread. Pretty cool!!

:D
 
Originally posted by AdmiralAK
lol aparenlty you guys missed the "think different" watches that apple made :p
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I've got one. Love it. Once you learn to read it, you can read regular clocks in mirrors, as well. Very handy. :D
 
the Latin for left actually means sinister
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Latin for left is "sinister". And I think the sundial explanation for why clocks go clockwise is better than superstitions about luck. Not that I'm saying you're wrong -- I just like the sundial explanation better. :)
 
Here is something I found:

It is not known when the sundial was invented, or what people invented it. Sundials can be found in many ancient civilizations, including the Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman ages.

The oldest record of the sundial can be found in the Bible as it is alluded to in Job 7:2 "as a servant earnestly desireth the shadow," and the miracle of the sundial of Ahaz is often quoted and referred to.

I don't know really who invented it or why it turns the way it does.... BUT... since I have nothing else to do with my time I will try and find out.
 
Here is something else:


The sundial was greatly improved (c.1st cent. A.D.) by setting the gnomon parallel to the earth's axis of rotation so that the apparent east-to-west motion of the sun governs the swing of the shadow.
 
The latin (and italian) word for Left is "Sinistro" (well the italian one is, the latin one is sinistr__something dont know latin endings)

Sinistro means left, btu since there was a supersticion that left was evil sinister (left) came to mean evil.
 
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