The date of occurrence of the first hourglass is unknown. However, the principle of the hourglass was known in Asia much earlier than the beginning of our chronology.

Western European countries began to deal with hourglasses only at the end of the Middle Ages. Here is the hourglass of Erasmus of Rotterdam:

Although the hourglass arrived late in Europe, it quickly spread. This was facilitated by their simplicity, reliability, low price and, last but not least, the ability to measure time with their help at any time of the day or night. The disadvantage was the short interval of time, which could be measured without turning the watch over.

Typically, an hourglass was calculated to work for half an hour or an hour. Less common were hourglasses designed to continuously measure time for 3 hours, and only in very rare cases were huge hourglasses built, designed for 12 hours.

More accurate clocks sometimes consisted not of one, but of several separate vessels.
The accuracy of the hourglass also depended on the manufacturing technology of the sand itself, as well as on the shape of the flasks, and on the smoothness of their inner walls.

The development of glass production made it possible to produce flasks with smooth inner walls, which made it possible for sand to flow as evenly as possible from the top to the bottom.

In the old days, the preparation of sand for clocks was considered a matter requiring special skill. It was made from burnt fine-grained sand or from fried ground eggshells, or from zinc and lead dust.

In 1339, a description of an hourglass with black marble powder was discovered in Paris. It was said that the best sand is obtained from marble sawdust, if they are boiled nine times with wine, removing the foam each time, and then dried in the sun.

The hourglass never reached the accuracy of a sundial, as the grains of sand were gradually crushed into finer ones, and the hole in the middle was gradually worn out and enlarged.

The hourglass, due to its shape and ease of operation, has retained some significance until recently, for example, they were used by telephone exchanges to record the time of short telephone conversations, in courtrooms and for some needs in the household.

The hourglass was of great importance on ships: in cloudy weather, when it was impossible to determine the time by the heavenly bodies, it was recognized by the hourglass. On Russian ships they were called "flasks". Every half an hour, when the “flask” was turned over, they beat the bell. From here, in fact, the expression came - “to beat the bottles” Yoongi measured out half-hour periods of time and beat the bell.

Previously, people wore hourglasses even on their legs, fastened to their legs below the knee. The best sand for such clocks was crushed marble.

For hundreds of years, the hourglass has been repeatedly tried to improve. So, astronomer Tycho Brahe replaced sand with mercury. Stéphane Farfleur and Grollier de Servier made spring mechanisms for turning clocks. But all these innovations did not take root. But people use the simplest hourglass to this day.

Until recently, hourglasses were used by physicians to count the patient's pulse. They were made in the form of a compact pen device and were designed for up to 30 seconds.

An interesting hourglass is installed on a street in the city of Mainz in Germany:

And here is another "curious" hourglass. A glass container is filled with a liquid of high density and a substance of small particles with a density much less than the liquid. These clocks work in the "reverse" direction (from bottom to top).

The particles, being lighter, accumulate in the liquid in the upper part of the vessel. After turning over, the particles tend upwards, seeping through a narrow isthmus, and after a while they again collect in the upper part.

The first hours were… stellar. According to observations of the movement of the Moon and the Sun in Mesopotamia and Egypt, about 4,000 years ago, the methods of the sexagesimal time reference system arose.


A little later, the same system independently arose in Mesoamerica - the cultural region of North and South America, stretching from the center of modern Mexico to Belize. Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and northern Costa Rica.

All these ancient clocks, in which the “hands” were the rays of the Sun or shadows, are now called solar. Some scientists refer to the sundial stone structures-circles like Stonehenge, found in different parts of the world.

But megalithic civilizations (ancient ones, those that made structures from large stones without using a binding solution) did not leave behind written evidence of time accounting, therefore scientists have to build and prove very complex hypotheses of understanding time as a matter and the actual origin of watches.

The inventors of the sundial are called the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, or Mesopotamians. However, they were the first to count the time: they divided the year into 12 months, day and night - into 12 hours, an hour - into 60 minutes, a minute - into 60 seconds - after all, in Mesopotamia, the kingdom of Babylonia.


This was done by the Babylonian priests using a sundial. At first, their instrument was the simplest watch with a flat dial and a central shaft that cast a shadow. But during the year the sun set and rose differently, and the clock began to "lie".

The priest Beroz improved the ancient sundial. He made the clock face in the form of a bowl, exactly repeating the visible shape of the sky. At the end of the needle-rod, Beroz fixed a ball, whose shadow measured the hours. The path of the sun in the sky was accurately reflected in the bowl, and on its edges the priest made markings so cunningly that at any time of the year his clock showed the correct time. They had only one drawback: the watch was useless in cloudy weather and at night.

Beroz's watch served for many centuries. They were used by Cicero, they were found on the ruins of Pompeii.

The origin of the hourglass has not yet been clarified. They were preceded by water clocks - clepsydras and fire clocks. Sandboxes, according to the American Institute (New York), could have been invented in Alexandria in 150 BC. e.


Then their trace in history disappears and appears already in the early Middle Ages. The first mention of an hourglass at this time is associated with a monk who served in the Cathedral of Chartres (France) using an hourglass.

Frequent references to the hourglass begin around the 14th century. Most of them are about the use of clocks on ships, where it is simply impossible to use either fire as time meters. The movement of the vessel does not affect the movement of sand between the two vessels, nor does the change in temperature, because the hourglass - for sailors: bottles - showed more accurate time in any conditions.

There were many models of hourglasses - huge and tiny, which served for various household needs: from performing a church service to measuring the time needed for baking.

The use of hourglasses began to decline after 1500, when mechanical clocks began to be actively used.

Information on this issue is contradictory. But most scientists are inclined to believe that the first mechanical clock was created in 725 AD. e. Chinese masters Liang Lingzan and Yi Xing, who lived during the reign of the Tang Dynasty.


They used a liquid anchor (trigger) mechanism in the watch. Their invention was perfected by masters Zhang Xixun and Su Song of the Song Empire (late 10th - early 11th century).

However, later in China, the technology fell into decay, but was mastered by the Arabs. Apparently, it was from them that the liquid (mercury) anchor mechanism became known to Europeans, who from the 12th century began to install tower clocks with a water / mercury escapement.

The weights on the chains become the next clock mechanism: the wheel gear is driven by the chain, and the spindle travel and the folio balancer in the form of a rocker with moving weights are regulated. The mechanism was highly inaccurate.

In the 15th century, spring-loaded devices appeared, which made it possible to make the watch small and use it not only on towers, but also in houses, carry it in your pocket and even on your hand.

There is no exact information about the invention. Some sources call the year 1504 and a resident of Nuremberg, Peter Henlein. Others attribute the introduction of the wristwatch to the name of Blaise Pascal, who simply tied a pocket watch to his wrist with a thin rope.


Their appearance is also attributed to 1571, when the Earl of Leicester presented Queen Elizabeth I with a bracelet with a watch. Since then, wristwatches have become a women's accessory, and English men have a saying that it's better to wear a skirt than a watch on your hand.

There is another date - 1790. It is believed that it was then that the Swiss company "Jacquet Droz and Lesho" released the first wrist watch.

It seems that everything connected with the clock is somehow mysteriously hidden either by time or by history. This is also true for electronic watches, for the invention of which there are several contenders at once.


The “Bulgarian version” seems to be the most probable. In 1944, the Bulgarian Petyr Dimitrov Petrov left to study in Germany, and in 1951 - in Toronto. A talented engineer becomes a member of NASA programs, and in 1969, using his knowledge of space technology, he creates the filling for the first Pulsar electronic watch.

The watch is produced by the Hamilton Watch Company, and the most authoritative watch expert G. Fried calls their appearance “the most significant leap forward since the hairspring was invented in 1675”.

Today, hourglasses are made in beautiful gift designs...

“Time is money”, says the popular wisdom. Today, every adult has accessories that allow you to always be aware of: what time it is and how much time it took for a particular event.

Hourglass - history

But in ancient times, this function was performed by an hourglass. Their principle is quite simple. These are two glass vessels of the same size, which are connected to each other with a small transition. Vessels could have a different volume. It all depends on how long they are. Grains of sand flow from one vessel to another, which count the amount of time elapsed.

The hourglass appeared long before our era, presumably in Asia. Even Archimedes mentions a similar watch model in his works. In Western Europe, the hourglass appeared in the middle of the 14th century. The thing is that for a long time people could not find the necessary transparent container so that the sand could be clearly seen through it. In ancient Rome, glass at that time had a huge amount of impurities, due to which it was very cloudy.

sand for hourglass

Sand during such hours was harvested in a special way. To do this, black marble was ground into powder, then it was sieved, boiled in wine and dried in the sun for a long time. Only after all these manipulations, the required color of the sand and its “friability” were obtained. Certainly, hourglass very quickly entered the life of people. After all, with their help it was possible to measure time even at night or in cloudy weather, while the sundial did not work. But, the hourglass also had a drawback - with their help it was possible to measure a relatively small amount of time: from 30 minutes to an hour. There were, of course, hours for 3 hours of work. There were also exclusive models designed for 12 hours.

People were able to make other original models of hourglasses. They poured sand in several stages. Thus, it was possible to count 15 minutes, 30, 45 and an hour.

Flasks, as mentioned earlier, were made of glass. They were interconnected by a special metal diaphragm with holes. She also controlled the speed of sand supply. And at the very end, the joint of the joint was well tied with a thread, and from above it was abundantly lubricated with resin.

Three types of sand were used. The first was obtained by repeated sifting of sand, previously fired in a kiln and well dried. Such clocks cast a reddish tint. The second type of sand was obtained from eggshells, heavily crushed and, again, sifted. These watches were white. But the gray filler was obtained from dust particles of metals - zinc and lead. Lead filler and was considered the best. It had a uniform grain that gave the most accurate timing results.
Of course, the longer used hourglass, the less accuracy they gave. The thing is that the sand scratches the walls of the vessel and therefore more time is spent on its passage through it. No matter how hard the inventors tried, the hourglasses could not compete with the sundial.

Hourglass - gift

However, for example, hourglasses have become indispensable for sailors. After all, it was the single most accurate instrument of all that they could use while swimming. After all, the sundial showed only the time in the area in which they were at the moment, and even then, only in clear weather. have become a real salvation for sea travel.

In modern world hourglass used as a gift, souvenir. They no longer carry any special useful value. But the beauty and unusual appearance of the invention still attract the eye. The very realization of how time is clearly flowing away makes you think and reflect on life.

To date, p hourglass are made in beautiful gift designs, stylized as various pieces of furniture. Such a souvenir helps to concentrate, tune in a positive way, and also calm down after a nervous breakdown. Watching the grains of sand, you no longer think about your problems, experiences. The watch perfectly helps to meditate, withdraw into oneself, think about the meaning of life. This, it would seem, is the simplest invention, helping a person to understand the meaning of life and the fact that his greatest wealth is the time that is given to him. And you need to use it wisely, value your life and not waste it on trifles!

"... And in eternity the hourglass will remain like a child's toy."
In the distant past, the ancient hourglass, which served in ancient Greece as a symbol of the god Kronos, the chief judge and the keeper of time, was made from two glass flasks that were connected to each other through a diaphragm made of metal, glass, mica or wood. With prolonged use of the hourglass, these diaphragms were often erased, increasing in diameter. Sand poured faster, and the "course" of time was broken.

Since 1750, glassblowers have learned to make a single glass flask for hourglasses. The flask smoothly passed into a narrow neck and expanded again. They began to fill it with sand through a small hole in the bottom, which was then covered with wax. Since 1800, masters have learned to seal the hole in the flask.

Sand has always been the main filler for hourglasses. The accuracy of the hourglass depends on the condition of the sand, the shape of the flask and the quality of its surface. The sand must be dry, homogeneous, round grains of sand should preferably have the same size and high resistance to abrasion. In the Middle Ages, they also used marble, zinc or lead dust, as well as ground eggshells. Since the 13th century, various recipes for making “sand” for clocks have been known. It was sieved, washed, boiled and annealed. Nowadays, instead of sand, tiny glass balls are used.

The hourglass was once the main, fairly accurate instrument for measuring time. Since the 15th century, they have also been used on ships for navigation. During his trip around the world, Magellan installed 18 hourglasses on each of his ships. Specially assigned sailors turned the hourglass over.

How does the classic hourglass work?
At the top of the flask, the sand rushes down and falls under the action of gravity. At the beginning of the movement, the growing flow of falling sand grains is opposed by the reverse flow of air displaced from the bottom of the flask, which rushes upward, trying to pass between the individual grains of sand.
The speed of the sand jet is determined by the speed of the falling grains of sand when an equilibrium occurs between the force of gravity acting on the grains of sand and the air resistance force that occurs when the grains of sand fall.
The steady stream of falling sand gradually leads to an increase in air pressure in the bottom of the flask. When the stream of grains of sand is almost dry, you can see how the stream of air, escaping from the bottom up, picks up the last grains of sand in the upper part of the flask and lifts them a few millimeters before they finally fall down.

Why can you measure time with an hourglass?
Sand is a complex material that sometimes behaves like a solid and sometimes like a liquid. It seems that in an hourglass a uniform stream of sand is similar to the flow of liquid, but there is an essential difference. If it were a liquid, then its amount flowing through the hole of the clock would depend on the height of the liquid column above the hole. And the amount of sand passing through the hole in the hourglass per unit of time does not depend on the height of the sand above the hole. That is why sand can be used to measure time in an hourglass.

The constant speed of the sand flow is due to the redistribution of forces arising in the thickness of the sand, which appear at the points of contact of the grains of sand. In large volumes of sand, due to these points of contact, "networks" of grains of sand are formed, in which domed "bridges" appear.

These bridges create pressure on the glass walls of the flask. The underlying layers of sand are to some extent released from the pressure of the upper layers. As a result, the average sand pressure over the hole, even with varying sand levels, remains almost constant. This results in a constant velocity of the sand jet in the hourglass.

How can you "manage" time?

Let's hang the hourglass on an elastic thread (elastic band) and make it oscillate up and down. if they were, for example, standing on a table.

The diameter of the hole connecting the halves of the flask is usually made as small as possible in order to increase the sand pouring time with a smaller amount of sand in the clock, i.e. increase the time of the hourglass.
The flow of granular matter (sand) is different from the flow of a liquid. Sand flows from beginning to end through the hole at the same speed. This property is based on the occurrence of vaults (bridges) inside the sand. In an hourglass, this can even cause the hole to close up and stop the sand from flowing down. When the clock moves with acceleration up or down (for example, when swinging), such overlapping bridges fall apart.

How else can you "influence" the time?

For example, grasp the bottom of the flask with your palms. After some time, "time will stop", the flow of grains of sand will stop. What seems here to be a mystical laying on of hands can be explained quite logically. When the bottom of the flask is heated, the air in it heats up, expands and tends to rise to the top of the flask, and then the uniform flow of grains of sand in the hourglass can be disturbed or even completely stopped.

Interesting phenomena can be observed in some unusual hourglasses!

For dry sand, the angle of repose of a pile of sand formed at the bottom of the flask is about 30-35 degrees. This value also depends on the shape of the grains. Angular sand grains create steeper slopes, while rounded grains create gentler slopes.
If you fill an hourglass with sand with grains of sand of different diameters, then when a jet of sand is formed, the grains of sand will begin to be distributed in a very interesting way, both in the upper part of the flask and in the lower one.

At the bottom, a small cone first forms, the sand flowing from above forms sand avalanches that slide down the slope of the sand cone. In this case, grains of sand are sorted by size: large ones accumulate mainly at the foot of the cone, and on the slopes of the cone, sand lies in separate layers of the smallest grains of sand and larger grains of sand.
This "banding" is explained in two ways: the smallest grains of sand can penetrate between the large ones and form a layer, while the large ones can more easily roll down the slope, and thus they also create their own layer.
These processes are constantly repeated.
And something similar happens in the upper part of the flask, only here, when the sand moves, a conical funnel is formed.

This hourglass model is similar to the regular hourglass, but it has two differences. First, the sand is between two flat plates, and second, the clock will be filled with sand containing grains of sand of different sizes. Hence the appearance of the above-described "striped" effects.
Using such a scientific "toy" as an example, serious people study serious problems that arise, for example, when storing bulk materials.

Along with the classical ones, there are also modern hourglass designs, the work of which would be interesting to consider. Such clocks are even called "paradox clocks".

You won't believe your eyes, in this watch "sand" flows from bottom to top, however, the laws of nature remain in force!

A glass container is filled with a liquid of high density and small balls with a density much less than the density of the liquid. In a denser liquid, balls with a lower density rise, as expected, up. This is the basic principle of the paradox clock, on the basis of which the "sand" rises from the bottom up. And everything repeats in a new way with each turning of the clock.

Unusual hourglasses may have tiny plastic balls or air-filled glass balls as "sand". Hollow transparent balls, partially filled with tinted water, also look very nice.

In the vertical position of the clock, a relatively dense and not very uniform flow of balls upwards occurs. The balls must penetrate upward through a narrow hole, and due to the viscosity of the liquid, they partially entrain it along with them, while the liquid also tends downward.

Basically, the rate of lowering and rising of a ball in a liquid depends on the difference in densities of the balls and the liquid, on the diameter of the balls and on the strength of the liquid, and the strength of the liquid is highly dependent on temperature.

If you start the paradox clock, and let at least a few balls rise up, and then put the clock on its side, then you can clearly see the individual balls slowly rising up.

In this case, you can even have time to determine the rate of rise of individual balls.
If you put the clock again vertically so that the balls begin to rise in a stream to the upper part of the flask, then in the lower part of the flask, almost completely filled with balls, you can clearly see the “hole” moving down. This phenomenon can be compared to the movement of a “hole” in a semiconductor.

"Forgetful" or "naughty" hourglass.

An ordinary hourglass is lowered into a cylinder filled with water. The outer diameter of the hourglass is a few millimeters smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder. At rest, the clock, like a float, is at the top of the cylinder, and all the sand is at the bottom of the flask.
If the cylinder is now inverted, then at first the hourglass remains at the bottom of the cylinder, although the sand has already begun its movement. And only when almost half of the sand has flowed, the hourglass rises to the top of the cylinder. And already at the top of the cylinder, the rest of the sand in the clock is poured into the lower part of the flask.

The "forgetful" hourglass will begin to float only some time after the cylinder is turned over.

Why doesn't the hourglass rise immediately after the cylinder is turned over?
The hourglass inside the cylinder has an average density less than that of water. So the clock goes up. If you turn the watch over, then at first almost all the sand will be in the upper half of the flask, the center of gravity of the watch will be, respectively, above the middle of the watch.

If the clock were not in a narrow cylinder, but in free water, then it would immediately turn over due to the resulting torque. In a narrow cylinder, they are pushed against the inner wall of the cylinder. Here sticking (static friction) occurs, which prevents the watch from rising quickly.

Only when almost half of the sand has flowed out will the watch's center of gravity drop below the middle. The static friction against the cylinder wall and the torque will disappear, now the watch can float to the top of the cylinder.

"Floating Hourglass"

The next example of an unusual hourglass is a variant called "Floating Hourglass". Here, a cylindrical hourglass is in a cylinder filled with water.

The outer diameter of the hourglass is only slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder. Due to the viscosity of the liquid, the hourglass will rise and fall very slowly in such a cylinder.
According to its principle of operation, an hourglass located in a narrow cylinder is similar to a device for measuring the viscosity of a liquid.

The time during which the sand is poured through the neck into another vessel is usually from a few seconds to several hours. Previously, to increase the interval of measured time, even sets of hourglasses were compiled in one case.

Hourglass "Wheel of time"

In our time, they have learned how to make an hourglass with a "factory" for the whole year In the capital of Hungary, Budapest, every year on the last day of December, the giant "Wheel of Time" hourglass, several meters high, makes a half-turn to start a new annual cycle of work.

The flip of the hourglass is always done in one direction, the old fashioned way: with the help of cables and a simple mechanism.

And here is the focus!

Did you know that you can set the egg on the table with the pointed end down?
Inside such an egg, an asymmetrical hourglass is made. When all the sand is in the part of the flask that is symmetrical with respect to the egg, then it can be placed on the table at the sharp end and it will stand

After a while, when the sand begins to fall off, the center of gravity of the egg will shift, and the egg will fall. The second time it will not be possible to put it on the sharp end until all the sand in the watch is poured back into its original position.

In our time, the hourglass has acquired many different variations of execution and has already moved into the category of souvenirs and scientific toys.

Instead of sand and air in an hourglass, for example, balls and a liquid or two liquids that differ greatly in density can be used.
Or maybe you will be able to invent your own version of the "hourglass"?

So what is it, when were they invented, how much time do they measure and where are they used today? I will try to answer all these questions in this article. And so about everything in order.

Hourglass This is an invention that allows you to count time. It consists of two flasks connected to each other. Inside they have sand, which, pouring from one flask to another, counts a certain period of time, which depends on the size of the watch itself.

The hourglass began to be used around the 14th century. This is evidenced by a message dated 1339, which was found in Paris. It contains instructions on how to prepare watch sand.

Sand.The accuracy of such watches depended on several factors. One of them is sand. It was made from sifted black marble powder, then boiled in wine and dried in the sun. Also from burnt fine-grained sand, which was sown through fine sieves and dried. This sand had a reddish tint. Other sand was made by carefully grinding eggshells, thereby giving it a light white color. The use of sand from zinc and lead dust differed in that it abraded the inner walls of the flask less, such sand had a gray tint.

flasks for watches they were made of glass, by that time people had already learned how to work with it. Two flasks were interconnected with a thread and filled with resin in order to harden the joint and prevent moisture from penetrating inside, which would degrade the accuracy of the watch. Later they began to produce solid flasks.

Dignity hourglasses were considered easy to use, reliable, and inexpensive. Therefore, they were available to many people of that time. They were widely used in shipping to measure the speed of movement and the duration of the watch, as well as in medicine.

disadvantages of course they were too. One of the main ones is a small amount of time that they could count (mostly 30 minutes or 1 hour). To count more time, it was necessary to make a truly large clock. Also, over time, the sand particles became smaller and the flasks were worn out from the inside, which had a bad effect on accuracy.

Some inventors have tried to increase the time span by automatically tipping the clock and embedding several flasks into one clock. The first flask was emptied in 15 minutes, the second in 30 minutes, the third in 45, and the fourth in 1 hour. On top they had a dial with an arrow, when the sand from the last flask poured down, they turned over and the arrow moved forward an hour.

Currently, they are mainly used for interior decoration and as souvenirs. Also, in some cases, during meetings in court and in medicine, during medical procedures.

Monument dedicated to this invention stands in Budapest (Hungary). They are 8 meters high, and the sand is completely poured into their lower part in 1 year. Japan also has big clocks. they are stored in the sand museum of the city of Nîmes.

That's probably all. If you have something to add or you disagree with something, write in the comments.