Hourglass. Past, Present and Future.
How it all began.
Before the invention of mechanical watches, clocks used the movement of the sun or simple measuring instruments to keep track of working time. Solar may be the oldest device by definition of time; they are still used in many park areas as a popular accessory that attracts attention, but causes only visual interest, there is no talk of any practical use. Stonehenge, a giant monument built of upright stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire in England, may have been used as a sundial and as a calendar. Sundials have obvious disadvantages; they cannot be used indoors, at night or on cloudy days.
Other simple measuring devices have also been used to determine time intervals. There are four main types of such devices that can be used indoors and regardless of the weather and time of day. Clock candle - This is a candle with lines drawn directly on its body, usually marking the duration of one hour. The time passed was determined by the number of burnt marks. But the candle clock had drawbacks; the determination of time was rather arbitrary; then, the different composition of wax, wick, as well as drafts and other factors greatly influenced the burning process of the candle. Clock oil lamp - used in the 18th century, it was an improved version of the candle clock. The point was that there was a scale on the kerosene tank, and during the process of burning it out, time was kept track of. This type of watch was more resistant to environmental influences and materials. Water clock also used to control time, water dripped from one reservoir to another, which was marked with time intervals. Or simply water from the tank dripped onto the ground (if water was not saved), the tank, as in all previous versions, had a scale. The water clock is also known as the clepsydra.
Story.
They were also used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The first historical references to the hourglass appear in the 3rd century BC. History also shows that hourglasses were used in the Senate of Ancient Rome, and during speeches the hourglass became smaller and smaller, perhaps as an indicator of the quality of political speeches. In Europe, the first hourglass appeared in the eighth century. By the beginning of the 14th century, hourglasses were widely used in Italy and by the end of the century throughout Europe. The hourglass has the same principle as the clepsydra. 
Two glass flasks are connected by a narrow neck so that sand (of relatively uniform grain size) passes from the top flask to the bottom. The glass containers are enclosed in a frame that allows you to easily turn the hourglass over to start a new countdown. Hourglasses are used everywhere, in private homes in kitchens, in churches to control the length of sermons, in university lecture halls, in craft stores. Medical professionals use miniature hourglasses with a duration of half or one minute to measure pulses and other medical procedures, the practice of using such clocks continued until the 19th century.
Material.
Hourglass glass is made from the same material as all other types of blown glass. Sand is the most complex component of an hourglass. Not all types of sand can be used as the sand grains may be too angular to flow properly through the mouth of the hourglass. Sand from sunny beaches looks tempting, but is not at all suitable for watches, as it is too angular. Marble dust, dust from other rocks, small round grains of sand like river sand are best suited for hourglasses. Interestingly, in the Middle Ages, books for housewives contained recipes for making glue, paints, soap, as well as sand for hourglasses. Perhaps the best sand is not sand at all, but tiny glass balls with a diameter of 40-160 microns. In addition, such glass granules can be made in different colors, which makes it possible to choose an hourglass to match the interior of the room where it will be located.
Design.
Design and concept are usually the most difficult step in hourglass production. A watchmaker must simultaneously be well versed in the world of design, be an artist, have good contact with the public, and also have a good knowledge of production technology. People and companies who order hourglasses want them to reflect their character, business style, and also contain materials related to their products. Once the design development is complete, the actual production of the watch is quite simple.
Hourglasses come in different shapes and sizes, the smallest being the size of a cufflink, and the largest measuring 1 meter. Sand ones can have almost round, oblong flasks, or they can contain not two of them, but form cascades. The hourglass figure is very popular.
Production process.
Once the design and choice of materials have been decided, the body of the hourglass is blown on a glass lathe to a size that matches the size of the hourglass time slot. The watch frame allows for the possibility of imagination and can be made from many materials nowadays. One of the biggest misconceptions is that there is a formula for determining the amount of sand contained in a watch. The amount of sand in an hourglass cannot be analyzed or calculated. The type of sand grains, the roughness of the glass, and the design and shape of the hole impose too many variables to determine the speed of sand passing through the mouth of the hourglass such that the amount of sand cannot be calculated mathematically. The process is like this before 
To seal the top flask, sand is added to it and passed through the neck of the hourglass in an amount corresponding to the prescribed time interval. After completion of the calculated period of time, the sand remaining in the upper part of the flask is poured out and the flask is sealed. The customer is a full participant in production, because all his wishes are taken into account and strictly implemented. The end result is that customers receive handcrafted products that meet their requirements and evoke historical and artistic associations. An hourglass is an aesthetic decoration and not an accurate timepiece.
Future and Hourglass.
Hourglass, it would seem, has no future. In fact, the beautiful shape of the glass flask itself, the elegantly crafted frame, and the color of the sand can perfectly complement the interior and describe any incident in life. Of course, the sand clock may not be mass produced, but for connoisseurs of time, beauty, and collectors, such an object will always be desirable.
History of watch creation dates back several thousand years. For a long time, man has tried to measure time, first by the day and night luminaries and stars, then with the help of primitive devices and, finally, using modern high-precision complex mechanisms, electronics and even nuclear physics.
The history of watch development is a continuous improvement in the accuracy of time measurement. It is reliably known that in Ancient Egypt they measured time in a day, dividing it into two periods of 12 hours. There is also evidence that the modern sexagesimal measurement model came from the Sumerian Kingdom around 2000 BC.
Sundial.
It is generally accepted that the history of clockmaking begins with the invention of the sundial or gnomon. With such a clock it was possible to measure only daytime, since the principle of their operation was based on the dependence of the location and length of the shadow on the position of the sun.
Water clock.
The history of the creation of water clocks begins in Ancient Persia and China around 2500 - 1600 BC. And from there, quite likely with trade caravans, water clocks were brought to Egypt and Greece.
Fire clock.
Fire clocks were used about 3000 years ago in China, during the time of the first emperor of this country named Fo-hi. Fire watches were widespread in Japan and Persia.
Hourglass.
The creation of the hourglass dates back to approximately the 3rd century BC during the time of the scientist Archimedes. Ancient Greece has long been considered the place of their invention, but some archaeological finds suggest that the first hourglass was created by residents of the Middle East.
Mechanical watches.
The history of the creation of the first mechanical watch begins in 725 AD in China and is a significant event in the history of watch development. Although, even earlier, presumably in the 2nd century BC in Ancient Greece, a mechanism was created that made it possible to track the positions of celestial bodies with great accuracy. This mechanism consisted of 30 gears placed in a wooden case, on the front and back sides of which there were dials with arrows. This ancient mechanical calendar can be defined as the prototype of the first mechanical watch.
Electric clock.
With the discovery of electricity, the history of electric clocks, invented in the mid-19th century, began. The creation and further development of electric clocks put an end to the inconvenience of synchronizing time in different parts of the world.
In 1847, the world was presented with an electric clock developed by the Englishman A. Bain, which was based on the following principle: a pendulum swinging by means of an electromagnet periodically closed the contact, and an electromagnetic counter, which was connected by a system of gears to the clock hands, read and summed up the number of oscillations.
Atomic clock.
In 1955, the history of watch development took a sharp turn. Briton Louis Essen announced the creation of the first atomic clock using cesium-133. They had unprecedented accuracy. The error was one second per million years. The device began to be considered a cesium frequency standard. The standard of atomic clocks has become the world standard of time.
Digital Watch.
The beginning of the 70s of the 20th century is the point of the history of the creation and development of electronic watches, which display time not with hands, but with the help of LEDs, which, although they were invented in the mid-20s, found practical application only decades later.
Hourglasses are one of the most ancient types of devices invented by people to measure time.
Despite the active development of watchmaking and the emergence of more advanced mechanisms, hourglasses are still used today.
Start
The history of the origin of the hourglass lacks specifics and reliably confirmed facts, however, based on surviving sources, it can be assumed that the principle of constructing such a device was known in Asia even before the birth of Christ. Despite the fact that bottle clocks were mentioned by Archimedes, and the first attempts to invent glass were made in Ancient Rome, during Antiquity no one was able (or perhaps did not want to try) to make an hourglass.
Middle Ages
The next milestone in the history of the hourglass was the Middle Ages. At that time, craftsmen who were working on improving water and solar grandfather clocks also took up bottle designs. Due to their low cost and ease of use, they immediately gained incredible popularity.
One of the first European hourglass models was made in Paris. A record of this dated back to 1339, and the text of the message contained instructions regarding the preparation of fine sand (for this, black marble powder, previously boiled in wine and dried in the sun, was sifted). The quality of the sand was one of the fundamental factors on which the accuracy of the watch depended: in addition to marble, grayish sand from zinc and lead dust, reddish fine-grained sifted sand, and light white sand from fried ground eggshells were used. The grain size and flowability of the sand had to be uniform.
Most often, sand was poured with the expectation that the clock would work for thirty minutes or an hour, but there were also models that worked for three and even twelve hours.
Developments in the technology of producing transparent glass were used to manufacture the case elements of hourglasses, mantelpieces and chiming wall clocks. For bottle clocks it was converted into spherical flasks.
For maximum precision, the glass had to be smooth, without defects. In the place where the neck of the vessel narrowed, a horizontal metal diaphragm was placed, the opening of which served to regulate the quantity and speed of pouring grains of sand. At the junction, the structure was tied with thick thread and fixed with resin. Unfortunately, medieval craftsmen were never able to make an hourglass that would be as accurate as a sunglass: with prolonged use, the grains of sand gradually became crushed, and the hole in the diaphragm expanded, thereby accelerating the passage of sand.
New time
With the advent of interior watches, as well as women's and men's mechanical watches, the hourglass had to be improved so that it could compete with more accurate time measuring devices. For this purpose, the production of hourglasses began in the cities of Augsburg and Nuremberg, the design of which consisted of four systems of flasks in one case. At the same time, the mathematician De la Hire created an hourglass capable of measuring second intervals. Attempts to replace sand with mercury were made by astronomer Tycho Brahe. However, the last two innovations were not as significant as Stephane Farfler's invention of a spring mechanism, which ensured automatic tilting of the watch.
20th century and modern times
Even though hourglasses are not the most accurate and have some disadvantages, they continued to be used well into the 20th century. Hourglasses with an automatic tilting mechanism were used in the courtroom, as well as in telephone exchanges (to control the time of short telephone conversations).
At the present stage, antique hourglasses can serve as a decorative element, and models encrusted with diamonds are especially popular among collectors. And finally, a bottle-shaped electronic watch, on the screen of which not grains of sand, but pixels are scattered, reminds us of the history of the development of watches.
People started measuring time a very long time ago. For this purpose, water and sunlight were used, later the energy of grains of sand, the mechanical force of springs, and nowadays most often the vibrations of piezocrystals.
Once upon a time, one of the main devices for measuring time was the hourglass. It is reliably known that the principle of their construction was known in Asia much earlier before the beginning of our chronology. However, in the ancient world, despite references to bottle clocks and attempts to make glass, no hourglass was constructed. In Europe they appeared in the Middle Ages.
It is documented that in the 14th century sand from marble, lead or zinc dust, quartz, and also from eggshells was used to produce hourglasses. The smoother the glass, the higher the accuracy of the move. It also depended on the sand itself and on the shape of the vessels. The presence of a diaphragm made it possible to regulate the number and, accordingly, the speed of pouring grains of sand. True, in those days the craftsmen were never able to achieve the accuracy and durability of the hourglass due to the mechanical destruction of the grains.
The time interval for which the clock was calculated usually ranged from a couple of seconds to one hour, rarely several hours. However, there are exceptions, which are located in Budapest (Hungary) and Nimes (Japan). This hourglass reaches a height of several meters and its cycle is one year.
For a long time, ships used 30-second hourglasses to measure speed and half-hour ones to measure watch times. Also, thirty-minute chronometers were used in court hearings, and thirty-second ones in medicine.
In the history of hourglasses, there are many attempts to improve them, for example, using spring mechanisms to turn them over, or replacing grains of sand with mercury. But all these innovations did not take root, and modern watches are the same as they were several centuries ago.
Today, few people use hourglasses to measure time, but many people encounter them as a symbol. So with users of the Microsoft Windows operating system, this happens with every session; the mouse pointer simply turns into an overturning hourglass, indicating that the system is busy.
Back forward
Attention! Slide previews are for informational purposes only and may not represent all the features of the presentation. If you are interested in this work, please download the full version.
Target: development of temporal concepts in children of senior preschool age.
Tasks:
- Introduce children to the history of clocks.
- Expand children's knowledge about different types of watches, the principle of their operation and their role in our lives.
- Cultivate an interest in technology and respect for equipment.
- Cultivate curiosity and respect for time.
- Expand your horizons and enrich your children’s vocabulary.
Progress of the lesson
– Guys, please imagine this picture: all the clocks in our city have disappeared. What would happen then? (Children's answers)
– But once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, there were no clocks; people recognized the time by the sun.
SUN (slide 2)
The sun has risen - it's time for people to get up and get to work. The sun rose higher - it was time for dinner, but the sun hid and set - it was time to return home and go to bed.
SUNDIAL (slide 3)
One day a man noticed a shadow falling on the ground from a tree. He took a closer look and noticed that the shadow did not stand still, but moved after the sun. A man watched a shadow running in a circle and came up with a clock: he dug a pillar into the ground, and around the pillar he drew a circle, dividing it into parts. Each part was equal to one hour. The sun rose and the shadow of the pillar slowly moved in a circle, marking hour after hour. They were called solar. (According to I. Melnikov).
The sundial was invented by the ancient Egyptians.
Listen to the poem:
There is also a sundial - the ancestor of all clocks!
Now they are rare.
The dial lies on the ground, but the sun runs across the sky!
They happen in squares, on the lawn, in the garden - in full view of the sun!
(Elmira Kotlyar)
But people could not always use a sundial.
– Why do you think?
– On a cloudy, rainy, gloomy day it is difficult to determine the time because there is no sun.
– Do you know what watches are called live?
– Have you heard about living clocks?
CLOCK-ROOSTER (slide 4)
“This clock walks importantly around the yard, flaps its wings and, flying up onto the fence, shouts “cuckoo.”
- Did you find out who it is? The sun has not yet risen, and the rooster is already crowing, scratching its throat...
It's soon morning! Enough sleep!
The peasants noticed that the rooster began to crow for the first time when the sun had not yet appeared, but had only released its first ray. It was with the first cry of the rooster that the housewives got up to milk the cows and drive them out to pasture. The cockerel also helped arrange a meeting. For example, they said this: “Tomorrow we will go to the forest to pick mushrooms and berries. And we’ll meet outside the outskirts after the third rooster.”
Listen to the poem "Cockerel"
Crow-crow!
The cockerel crows loudly.
The sun shone on the river,
A cloud is floating in the sky.
Wake up, animals, birds!
Get to work.
The dew sparkles on the grass,
The July night has passed.
Like a real alarm clock
The cockerel woke us up.
He fluffed his shiny tail
And straightened the comb.
But it is difficult to determine the exact time by the crowing of a rooster. Either a rooster falls from its perch in a dream and starts screaming prematurely, then the fox gets scared and starts screaming, or the fox carries the rooster away and eats it.
– Have you heard about the flower clock?
FLOWER WATCH (slide 5)
A long time ago, people noticed that some flowers open in the morning and close during the day, others open in the evening, and others only at night, and are always closed during the day. Flowers open not when they please, but at “their own” time. In the morning, in a sunny meadow where dandelions grow, you can find out the time without a wristwatch. Dandelions open up in unison at five o'clock in the morning, and by two or three o'clock in the afternoon they extinguish their golden lanterns and fall asleep.
Listen to a poem about dandelions.
There is a green meadow by the river,
Dandelions around
They washed themselves with dew,
They opened their doors together.
How the lanterns burn,
They tell you and me:
"It's exactly five o'clock,
You can still sleep!"
Dandelions are meadow clocks. But water lilies are river watches. No wonder they are called “tourists’ watches.” At seven o'clock in the morning they open their snow-white petals to the sun's rays and turn to follow the sun throughout the day.
This is how the flower clock appeared. They were invented by the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus. He observed plants for many years and found out when the flowers of different plants open and close. Carl Linnaeus planted a flower clock in his garden. Chicory and rose hips, dandelions and potatoes, marigolds and many others grew in a round flowerbed. Carl Linnaeus could tell the time by seeing which flowers were open. But such watches only work in sunny weather. In cloudy weather the flowers are closed.
FLOWER CLOCK (slide 6)
The modern world liked the idea of flower clocks so much, and such clocks – flowers – appeared in many cities. The largest flower clock is located in Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill. The diameter of the dial reaches 10 meters, and the minute hand weighs more than 30 kilograms.
– How do you find out the time at night?
WATER CLOCK (slide 7)
And the man came up with another watch, more reliable. Water was poured into a tall glass vessel with a hole at the bottom. Drop by drop it oozed from the hole. Marks were made on the walls of the vessel, which showed how much time had passed since the moment when water was poured into the vessel. It was a water clock.
– Do you think this watch is comfortable?
“They turned out to be inconvenient because water had to be constantly added to the vessel. It is no coincidence that since then they have been saying about time: “How much water has flown under the bridge!”
HOURGLASS (slide 8)
People began to think about how to come up with better clocks, so that they would show time equally accurately day and night, in winter and summer, and in any weather. And they came up with it. This watch has no hands, no circle with numbers, no gears inside. They are made of glass. Two glass vials are connected together. There is sand inside. When the clock is running, sand flows from the upper bubble into the lower one. Sand spilled out, which means a certain amount of time has passed. The clock is turned over and the counting of time continues. This clock was called an hourglass. (According to M. Ilyin, E. Segal)
And there are hourglasses - accurate!
Grains of sand flow in them - seconds fly by!
How the grains of sand gathered and settled into a mound
in a glass flask, and the minute is up!
(Elmira Kotlyar)
Hourglasses are still used in clinics and hospitals. Patients receive medical procedures using this clock, but it is impossible to find out what time it is from them.
MECHANICAL WATCH (slides 9, 10)
The man thought a little more and came up with a watch that we still use today. This is a watch with a mechanism. I put a spring inside them, twisted it, and to prevent it from unwinding, I attached a gear wheel to it. It clings to another wheel and turns it. The second wheel turns the hands, and the hands show the hours and minutes. This is a mechanical watch. They have a crown. When it is turned, a creaking sound is heard inside the clock. This is the spring being wound up. To keep the clock from stopping, it must be wound constantly.
There are watches without a spring. Instead, there is a small electric motor inside the watch, which is powered by a battery. There is no need to wind such a watch. And the crown serves only to move the hands. (According to I. Melnikov)
Mechanical watches were invented in the 17th century by the scientist Christian Huygens, and since then they have served us faithfully.
ELECTRONIC WATCH (slide 11)
The man didn’t stop there and came up with a clock without hands. These watches have only luminous numbers on the dials that change with each passing minute. These watches are called electronic and operate on electricity and batteries.
And there are new ones - electronic
restless hours!
Just start it once
If you start it, you can run it for a year! (Elmira Kotlyar)
– Now let's talk about modern watches. Each of us has a clock in our house. Maybe not alone.
Try to talk about them. Where are they located? What is their shape?
WATCHES (slide 12)
Watches can be wristwatches. They are put on the hand using a bracelet or strap.
Fashionistas love a beautiful watch in the form of a pendant or ring. A pendant on a chain is worn around the neck, and a ring on the finger.
And then there are the watches – tiny ones!
How my heart beats in my chest!
“Tiki-taki, tiki-taki” -
All day long.
(Elmira Kotlyar)
POCKET WATCH (slide 13)
Some men prefer chunky pocket watches. They are attached with a chain to a belt and carried in a trouser pocket.
ALARM CLOCK (slide 14)
You probably have an alarm clock at home.
Why do we need such a watch?
– You can set an alarm clock for a certain hour, and with its bell or melody it will wake us up at the right time.
TABLE CLOCK (slide 15)
A clock that is usually placed on a desk is called a desk clock.
WALL CLOCK (slide 16)
A clock hanging on the wall is called a wall clock.
Is there a wall clock?
Decorous, sedate!
Don't run away
keep up!
hit on time!
Pendulum: back and forth...
Today, tomorrow and always!
(Elmira Kotlyar)
LORD CLOCK (slide 17)
– Where do you think the grandfather clock is?
- These clocks are on the floor. They are tall, massive, with heavy weights attached to chains, and with a melodic beat.
There is a clock
Standing on the floor
Speaking in a deep voice:
“Bom! Bom! Bom!!” –
For the whole house.
(Elmira Kotlyar)
CUCKOO CLOCK (slide 18)
– What kind of watch “can cuckoo”?
- Cuckoo-clock! A “cuckoo” is hiding in a clock made in the shape of a patterned wooden hut. Every hour the door of the house opens and the cuckoo appears on its threshold. She sings loudly: “Ku-ku, kuk-ku,” reminding us of what time it is.
Listen to the poem "The Cuckoo Clock".
Lives in a carved hut
Merry cuckoo.
She crows every hour
And early in the morning he wakes us up:
"Kuk-ku! Kuk-ku!"
It's seven in the morning!
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
It's time to get up!"
The cuckoo does not live in the forests,
And in our old watch!
STREET CLOCK (slide 19)
There are also clocks on city streets and squares. They are installed on towers, station buildings, theaters and cinemas. They are called street and tower.
This street clock on a pole is familiar to you
They are very necessary here: the arrows - the giants are visible from afar!
(Elmira Kotlyar)
CLOCK-FAIRY TALE(slide 20)
A fairy tale clock hangs on the wall of the Central Puppet Theater in Moscow. As soon as the hands freeze on the number 12, the golden rooster sitting on a high pole turns importantly, spreads his wings and shouts throughout the street: “Ku-ka-re-ku-u!” - inviting people to the show. The ringing of bells is heard, followed by 12 measured strikes. Everyone is waiting for a miracle. And a miracle happens.
One after another, the doors of the magic houses open, and musicians, led by a bear, appear and begin to play cheerful music. The donkey dashingly strikes the strings of the balalaika, the ram stretches the bellows of the harmonica, and the cymbals ring in the paws of the bear. “Whether in the garden or in the vegetable garden,” the musicians sing cheerfully.
The musicians will play and hide in the houses again. (According to I. Melnikov, B. Radchenko)
TOWER CLOCK (slide 21)
Many cities around the world have towers with beautiful old clocks. Every hour they strike the time and play a tune.
KREMLIN CHIME (slide 22)
The most famous clock in Russia is the Kremlin chimes, installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.
The first clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared at the beginning of the 17th century. They were created by the English master Christopher Galovey. For his work, he received a royal gift - a silver cup and, in addition to it, satin, sable and marten fur.
After some time, Russian Tsar Peter I ordered another watch from Holland. At first they were transported by ship by sea, then delivered on 30 carts to the Kremlin.
Master Galovey's old watch was removed and replaced with a Dutch watch. When this clock also became dilapidated, another large chiming clock was installed in its place, which was kept in the Armory Chamber.
For several centuries, the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower has been decorated with clocks. A whole team of experienced watchmakers maintains their work, making sure that the watches do not lag behind and are not in a hurry. There are 117 stone steps leading to the chimes. Behind them begin the cast-iron steps of a spiral staircase leading to the eighth floor. The chiming mechanism is located here.
“The iron colossus is all shiny, lubricated with oil. The polished copper discs of the dials shine, the levers are painted red, the gilded pendulum disc, similar to the circle of the sun, shines. It reigns over this system of shafts, cables, gears, forming a complex mechanism for keeping time” (L . Kolodny)
On December 31, with the first strike of the Kremlin chimes, the country enters the New Year. Having heard the chime of the famous clock, we wish each other happiness and congratulate each other on the New Year!
Who hasn't heard
how they beat
The giant chimes on the Spasskaya Tower
They are the main clock -
Sovereign!
(Elmira Kotlyar)
Literature:
- Soshestvenskaya N.M. Lesson at the GPD “What do we know about watches”, article from the “Open Lesson” festival
- Safonova L.A. A series of classes to familiarize children with time, an article from the Open Lesson festival
- Shorygina T.A. "Conversations about space and time." Toolkit.
- Kotlyar Elmira “Watch - watch”. "Baby", 1986.
- Kobitina I.I. “For preschoolers about technology.” "Enlightenment", 1991.
- Ubelaker Eric "Time". "The Word", 1990.
