With today being the day that we return to standard time, this week has seen the semi-annual discussion about abolishing the switches between daylight savings and standard time.  It says something about where we are as a county that most of the discussions begin with the assumption that daylight savings is the norm and standard time is the aberration.

So let’s start with a brief history of how we track time.  For most of history, there was little need to keep track of time or at least not to keep an exact track of time.  Key celestial events (the equinoxes, the solstices, new moons, full moons) were the central feature of the calendar often marked by religious festivities.  But on a day-to-day basis, what mattered was sunrise and sunset.  Since most people lived on the property of their boss (whether semi-voluntarily as hired servants or apprentices or involuntarily as serfs, peasants, or slaves), the day started when the supervisor said it did (typically shortly after sunrise) and ended when the supervisor said it did (around sunset).  Other than sunrise or sunset, the only other key time marker was noon — when the sun was directly overhead.  If people needed to mark time, they used sundials (most accurate on the equinox or if you were close to the equator) or hourglasses.

Over time, mechanical clocks and watches replaced hour glasses as a way to keep track of time.  And, as workers stopped living on their employers’ property,  the town clocks became the official local time.  In most areas, noon remained when the sun was directly overhead. Continue Reading...