Picture the scene. You’re out in the wild, miles away from civilisation, you’ve forgotten your watch and your phone is dead. How are you going to tell the time? Listed below are a couple of tips that will allow you to tell the time even without a clock in sight.
The Sun
The Sun is the world’s original time keeping device, and can still be used accurately today. Shadow clocks, or sundials, were the first devices used to measure the time of day and utilised the movement of the sun across the sky. They were used by the ancient Egyptians as early as 3,500 BC, so if the sun was good enough for them, it’s good enough for us.
If you’re thinking that carrying a sundial around with you is just as inconvenient as trying to find a clock relax, as you can actually get a pretty accurate reading from the sun using just your hand. Find the sun in the sky and point towards it with an outstretched arm. Line your index finger up with the bottom of the sun and use your other hand to count the number of finger widths between the horizon and the sun. Each finger width is equal to 15 minutes, so four is equivalent to one hour. If it’s midday you’re going to need 48 fingers, which admittedly isn’t that convenient but it’s still worth giving it a go.
The Stars
Obviously the sun only works as an alternative clock in the daytime. At night you’ll need to use the stars. This was another method perfected by the ancient Egyptians, who used bars with plumb lines, called merkhets (which translates as instruments of knowing) to track the movement of the stars in relation to the North Pole Star.
The North Star clock only works in the northern hemisphere, and you’ll also need a clear sky. The Polaris is the centre point of your clock face and to determine the raw time you’ll need to draw an imaginary line to the top corner of the big dipper constellation. Wherever it falls in relation to the North Star is the rough time. For example if it was directly to the east of the Polaris, the time would be roughly 3am. You’ll need to make allowances for daylight saving time, and minor adjustments for complete accuracy at different times of year, but the basic principles stay the same all year round.
So next time you find yourself in a position where you want to know the time, but can’t find a clock have a crack and one of the above ideas. And if you’re feeling particularly novel why not do away with time-pieces altogether, and see if you can keep track of time in the modern world using only the sun and the stars. You might be late to a lot of meetings, but at least you’ll have less work to do.
When Charlie Taylor isn’t looking to the stars for inspiration he researches and writes about novelty clocks for the online gifts retailer Find Me A Gift.
