But for measuring it within a day, a universal device is a must. I have searched online for days now, and can't find any measurement for this. Instruments For Measuring Latitude. M ost of us today, from all nations of the earth and within the confines of our busy lives, are unaware that there has ever been more than one way of measuring time. The water clock, known from a Greek word as the clepsydra, attempts to measure time by the amount of water which drips from a tank. Measuring time with the help of regularly repetitive events is easy when it comes to measuring months and years. The Chinese used a type of water-clock to tell the passage of time. These instruments were not very accurate to describe the time but they helped in telling a rough and approximate phase of time. The celestial globe was a mounted sphere depicting the heavens instead of the earth. An odometer is another modern measuring instrument that measures the distance traveled by a vehicle. The Romans actually told the time using a sun-dial during the day. Known as a … The Romans also used water clocks which they calibrated from a sundial and so they could measure time even when the sun was not shining, at night or on foggy days. Clocks as Time Tellers. Measuring time with the help of watch seems simple, but the working of a watch is equally complex. Includes modern day equivalencies to a bushel, a hogshead, a coomb, and more. However it is difficult to measure time precisely on a sundial, because the sun's path throug the sky changes with the seasons. In old times, people used different types of instruments to know the time such as sand clock or hourglass, movements of the stars, movement of the sun across the sky, the shape and size of shadows and etc. They measure distance without physical contact with the object. Thus we have 24 hours in a day. The hour was now perceived as a specific measurement of time on a smaller scale which is measured 1/24th of a full solar cycle from one dawn to the next. There was another more advanced shadow clock or sundial in use by the ancient Egyptians around 1500 BC. Early attempts at precision in time-keeping rely on a different principle. Most often we assume that years, months, weeks, and days have always been measured as we were taught by our parents and teachers. Hourglass, an early device for measuring intervals of time.It is also known as a sandglass or a log glass when used in conjunction with the common log for ascertaining the speed of a ship.It consists of two pear-shaped bulbs of glass, united at their apexes and having a minute passage formed between them. Another very early form of clock to tell the time was the water clock. Industries that pertain to construction or architecture may use laser distance meters. Early human groups recorded the phases of the Moon some 30,000 years ago, but the first minutes were counted accurately only 400 years ago. Balances have had a strong symbolic significance in many civilizations: here is the balance used by the Egyptian god Anubis to weigh the hearts of the deceased and decide which are worthy of entering heaven. Convert old time measures with this chart from The Old Farmer's Almanac. Time, Measurement of The history of time measurement is the story of the search for more consistent and accurate ways to measure time. ... it calls for a "chunk of butter". The measurement was taken by putting the object measured on one plate and weight-setting stones on the other, until equilibrium was reached. Modern instruments used to measure distance can be digital or manual. Five Historic Methods of Time-Measuring. This obelisk would be marked out in certain sections to see the two halves of the day. 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