Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?

為什么鐘表順時針轉？

All of us are time conscious. We surround ourselves with alarm clocks， cuckoo clocks， wristwatches， grandfather clocks and peer at them to make sure we are sticking to our schedule. But have you ever taken a moment to wonder why the needles on the face of a clock move the way they do？ Why do the hour and minute needles move from left to right （in what is now called the “clockwise direction”） and not vice versa？ No， it is not the whim of the inventor. Actually there is a scientific explanation for this.

Throughout history， time has been measured by the movement of the sun （or， more accurately， the motion of the earth relative to the sun） at first. People had already realized 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.

Ancient Chinese people measured time with sundials， which were simple devices that marked the movement of the sun with the movement of the earth.

我們所有人都有時間意識。我們用鬧鐘、布谷鳥鐘、手表、落地式大擺鐘包圍自己，盯著它們看，以確保我們遵守時間表。但是你有沒有花一點時間思考過，為什么鐘面上的指針會這樣移動呢？為什么時針和分針從左向右（以現在稱為“順時針方向”的方式）移動，而不是向相反的方向呢？不，這不是發明者的心血來潮。事實上，對此有科學的解釋。

縱觀歷史，時間最初是通過太陽的運動（或者更準確地說，地球相對于太陽的運動）來測量的。人們已經意識到地球是圓的，它圍繞太陽旋轉。因此，多年來人們都是根據太陽的位置來測量時間的——太陽在天空中最高處的時候是正午。

古代中國人用日晷來測量時間。日晷是一種簡單的裝置，可以標記相對地球來說的太陽的位置。

Mechanical clocks were invented in the Northern Hemisphere in the 14th century and the inventors naturally wanted the device to follow the suns 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 motion， moving from left to right or what is commonly known as clockwise. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere and face south， you can watch the sun rise in the east （on your left）， pass overhead and set in the west （on your right）.

As simple as that！ Come to think of it， if the mechanical clock had been invented in the Southern Hemisphere， the hands 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 from right to left） but confuses everyone else！

14世紀，北半球有人發明了機械鐘，發明者自然希望這種裝置能模擬太陽在天空中的運動。在北半球，太陽看起來在天空中從左向右移動，因此時鐘的指針被制成跟隨太陽的運動，從左向右或通常所說的順時針方向移動。如果你在北半球，面朝南方，你可以看到太陽從東方（左邊）升起，從頭頂經過，然后在西方（右邊）落下。

就這么簡單！想想看，如果機械鐘是在南半球發明的，你鐘表表盤上的指針就可能會從右向左移動！

你知道嗎？有一些猶太和阿拉伯時鐘是逆時針運行的。這對于阿拉伯語和希伯來語使用者來說很正常（阿拉伯語和希伯來語的文字是從右到左書寫的），但卻讓其他人感到困惑！

Word Bank

conscious /'k?n??s/ adj. 意識到；注意到

peer /p??（r）/ v. 仔細看；端詳

He peered closely at the photograph.

vice versa /'va?s'v??s?/ adv. 反過來也一樣；反之亦然

He likes me， and vice versa.

revolve /r?'v?lv/ v. 旋轉；環繞；轉動

The fan revolved slowly.