Progression, Dean S

Progression

Dean Sewell, 2021

Isabella George, Momentum

Time is a bizarre topic. The concept of time has existed since, well, the beginning of time. The way we measure time has changed and evolved as we pass through time itself, but have you ever stopped to think about how we came to do this? Afterall, time is a never ending phenomenon that we can neither control nor experiment with. It’s a concept, one that constitutes constant change. When we as humans discovered the phenom

enon and began pondering about its nature, one question came to mind: Is it possible to measure time? Before inventing devices of our own to measure time, there existed a tool to measure time — a natural tool — one that consisted of two parts. The sun and moon. The sun tells us that it is daytime while the moon tells us the opposite. In fact, using the sun’s location, color of the sky due to the amount of sun

visible light, and even the shape of the moon, we were able to determine where we were in time at that moment. This is great and shows an advancing species, but it wasn’t good enough. While it had been used for millennia, we still saw time only as a tool and not a part of life. Our methods and mindset would need to advance further to take full advantage of this concept. Evidence for this thinking can be traced to the invention of the sun dial. Like us, it used the sun’s current location to provide an estimate of the time for us to see; however, this was done autonomously which severely decreased error. Following this invention, we began making calendars and segmenting time as a form of organization. But this still wasn’t enough. We wanted to take it further, and so, we did. Our view of time continued its expansion with every new timekeeping invention. These inventions include: the candle clock of ancient China, the timestick from Europe, the water-powered escapement mechanism of ancient Greece — a mechanism that transferred rotational energy into intermittent motion —, the mercury powered clocks of 10th century China with the same function, and even the first gear driven clocks. Time became a fascination, something we frequently sought to advance our understanding of. We were no longer viewing time as a tool, but as an entity. An entity that, through research and development, we could potentially understand to it fullest. Yet, despite having made such impressive advancements, we continued to improve our innovations. We entered a time of precision timekeeping. Not only did we want an ac

curate and precise manner to measure time, but we wanted a universal system to act as a basis for all future time based innovations. As such, we developed the sexagesimal — term meaning base of 60 — time system used worldwide today. With it, we were able to precisely segment time and better provide machinery to do this measuring for us. We invented the standard clock seen worldwide and then expanded even farther. We took this clock and created variation upon variation of it. The beauty of this is no matter what clock you are looking at, you can tell the time exactly. We had finally done it. While not perfect, our image of time was finally solidified. Time was no longer just a tool for us, we finally saw time for what it was: a phenomenon we could control. Whether it be from China, a clock in a nearby pawn shop or even just the clock on your phone, this once foregin concept and unexplainable phenomena has become an integral part of life — a never changing concept used daily by us all. When we take a step back and look at the origins of clocks and the concept measuring time, it becomes apparent that this invention has been taken for granted. Time itself is infinite, but for use, it is finite. We have a limited amount of time to live our lives, as such we should use all of what we are given to make a lasting effect on the world as we know it. We may have simplified time, but as a concept, it is still a jarring thing on which one can ponder. The past has been decided, the present is still developing, and the future of what is to become of our image of time will bring forth the drive to continue its advancement. Time is a bizarre topic.