时钟为何顺时针而转？

安落实

"Time to get dressed！"

"Time for school！"

"Time for dinner！"

"Time for bed！"

Old Father Time can be quite an interfering busybody2） and there really is nothing we can do. Most of us spend a greater part of our time and lives trying to beat exactly this—time！

Strangely enough the clock's hands seem to take forever to inch3） forward during a dull lesson， while time really flies when we are having a good time！ We surround ourselves with alarm clocks， cuckoo clocks， wristwatches， grandfather clocks4） and peer at them to make sure we are sticking to our schedule. But have you ever taken a moment to wonder why the hands on the face of a clock move the way they do？ Why do the hour and minute hands move from left to right （in what is now called the "clockwise direction"） and not vice-versa？ No， it is not the whim5） of the inventor. Actually there is a scientific explanation for this observation.

Throughout history， time has been measured by the movement of the Sun （or， more accurately， the motion of the Earth relative to the Sun）. The earliest form of timekeeping dates as far back as 3500 B.C. This was the shadow clock or the sundials6）—a vertical stick or obelisk7） that casts a shadow. An example of this clock can be seen at Jantar Mantar8） in Delhi.

People had already realised that the Earth is round and that it revolves around the Sun. So for ages people measured time based on the position of the Sun—it was noon when the Sun was highest in the sky.

The earliest clocks were invented in China around 100 A.D. based on these earlier sundials， which were simple devices that marked the movement of the Sun with the movement of the Earth.

Mechanical clocks were invented in the Northern Hemisphere in the 14th century and the inventors naturally wanted the device to follow the Sun's movement in the sky. In the Northern Hemisphere the Sun appears to move in the sky from the left to the right and so the hands of the clock were made to follow the Sun's motion， moving from left to right or what is commonly known as clockwise. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere and face the South， you can watch the Sun rising on your left （the East） pass overhead and set in the West （at your right）.

As simple as that！ Come to think of it， if the mechanical clock had been invented in the Southern Hemisphere， the hand on the dial of your watch would have been moving from right to left！

Do you know there are some Jewish and Arabic clocks that run anti-clockwise？ This makes perfect sense as Arabic and Hebrew readers （Arabic and Hebrew characters are written right to left） but baffles9） everyone else！

“该穿衣服啦！”

“该上学啦！”

“该吃晚饭啦！”

“该上床睡觉啦！”

时间老人真是个特别爱管闲事的主，对此我们真的无计可施。我们大多数人用很长一段时间和生命试图去击败的正是这个时间！

说来也真是奇怪，在一堂枯燥的课上，时钟指针似乎要花很长时间去一点点地向前移动，而当我们在享受一段快乐的时光时，时间又过得飞快！我们置身在闹钟、布谷鸟钟、手表和落地钟之间，时刻盯着它们，以确保我们能够按照时间表去做事。但你是否曾花点儿时间想过，为什么钟面上的指针是按它们现在的方式移动？为什么时针和分针从左向右（即现在所说的“顺时针方向”）移动，而不是朝相反的方向？这并非发明者心血来潮，实际上关于这一现象有科学的解释。

在整个历史长河中，时间一直是通过太阳的运动（或者更准确地说，是通过地球相对于太阳的运动）来测量的。最早的计时形式要追溯到公元前3500年。它就是当时的影子时钟或者叫日晷——一种可投下阴影的竖杆或方尖碑。在印度德里的简塔·曼塔古天文台就可以看到一个这样的时钟。

人们早就意识到地球是圆的，而且它在围绕太阳旋转。所以，很长时间内人们都是根据太阳的位置来测定时间的——当太阳升到空中最高处时就说明到了中午。

在这些早期日晷的基础上，中国在公元100年左右发明了最早的时钟，这是一种标记太阳和地球运动的简单装置。

机械钟表是14世纪在北半球被发明的，那些发明者自然希望它能夠跟随太阳在天空中的运动。在北半球，太阳在天空中似乎是从左向右移动的，于是时钟的指针也被设计成跟随太阳的运动，即从左向右或通常所说的顺时针方向移动。如果你在北半球，面朝南边，你可以看到太阳在你的左边（东边）升起，然后从头顶上方经过，最后在西边（你的右边）落下。

就是这么简单！细想一下，如果机械钟表是在南半球被发明的，那么你表盘上的指针可就要从右向左移动了！

你知道吗？有些犹太人和阿拉伯人的时钟是逆时针方向转动的！这在阿拉伯人和希伯来人看来完全合情合理（因为阿拉伯和希伯来文字是从右向左写的），但却会让其他所有人感到困惑不解。

1. clockwise [?kl?kwa?z] adv. 顺时针方向地

2. busybody [?b?zib?di] n. 爱管闲事的人；搬弄是非的人

3. inch [?nt?] vi. 缓慢地移动

4. grandfather clock： （装在高木匣中的）落地式大摆钟；爷爷钟

5. whim [w?m] n. 异想天开的念头；怪念头

6. sundial [?s?nda??l] n. 日晷（日晷上的指针能利用阴影指出时辰）

7. obelisk [??b?l?sk] n. （为纪念某人或某重大事件的）方尖碑；方尖塔

8. Jantar Mantar： 简塔·曼塔古天文台，是印度德里斋普尔城建造者贾伊·辛格二世（Jai Singh II， 1688～1743）的杰作，当年星象家用它来观测天象、预测事务。这里有世界上最大的日晷，距今已有近300年的历史。

9. baffle [?b?fl] vt. 使困惑，难住