Time Questions Matching

When did people start measuring time?

What units have ever been used to measure time?

How did people know the time before clocks were invented?

What is the oldest clock still working today?

Are there still any societies that do not measure time?

Can time flow faster or slower?

Is it possible to make time go backwards?

Different cultures had different ways to calculate the duration of time. They expressed it in days and years, which was based on the Earth’s movement around its axis and around the Sun. Months were originally connected to the cycle of the Moon. Later, people divided the day into hours, minutes, and seconds. In medieval Europe, people expressed the length of time in candles, measuring it by how fast a candle burned.

The universal units to measure time, such as hours, minutes and seconds, suggest that time always moves at a constant speed. People, however, may feel time differently: it seems to pass quickly when we are happy or busy, and very slowly when we are bored or waiting. In science, particularly in Einstein’s theory of relativity, time can actually move differently depending on speed and gravitational effects – and astronauts can experience this.

Nowadays, our daily life is planned, and we have schedules to follow. However, people in some Aboriginal communities still live without clocks and strict time measurement. For example, there are tribes in the Amazon and on Pacific islands who organise their lives according to natural cycles – sunrise, sunset, seasons, or weather – rather than exact hours or minutes. The Hadza people, from Tanzania, also live happily without knowing what a clock is.

Time is one of the most mysterious and important parts of human life. People have always wanted to understand it. The first attempts were made thousands of years ago in ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Around 1500 BC, Egyptians used large stone sundials. The Chinese had probably started to mark hours even earlier; they had their own sundials, which showed the time using the shadow of a stick or a carved plate.

A clock’s hands mark the passing seconds. While science-fiction films and books often use a time-travel plot, in reality it remains impossible. Most scientists agree that time only moves forward, and so far, there is no proof that it is able to change its direction. Still, scientists who study the nature of time occasionally come up with quite extravagant theories. They suggest that the universe might be more complex than we can currently understand.

In the past, people did not have mechanical or electronic devices to measure time, and they relied on nature. They looked at the position of the Sun and the stars, used the phases of the Moon, and marked the length of shadows. Sundials were common in many parts of the world, and water clocks, or sand clocks (called hourglasses) were used for shorter periods of time. Bells in towns and monasteries also reminded people when to pray, work, or rest.