The Invention of the Hourglass
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: The Invention of the Hourglass
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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• The Invention of the Hourglass.pdf
• The Invention of the Hourglass.doc
What would the world do without time? A person’s life is developed around time, such as when someone eats,
sleeps, or works. During the Age of Exploration, the explorers needed a time device that was advanced enough to
be on a ship. If explorers did not have a way of measuring time, they would have no way of knowing when to go
different directions and would have most likely become lost. The Age of Exploration lasted from the fourteenth
century to the seventeenth century (Briney). Many geographical locations, inventions, and knowledge of the world
developed during the Age of Exploration time period. One of the most important inventions during the Age of
Exploration was the hourglass, because it helped expand geographical knowledge and was very versatile, it also
made exploring possible and more advanced and was historically important for the world today (Kreis).
The Age of Exploration was the time period where new discoveries of the world came about and, “ The Age of
Exploration served as a stepping stone for geographical knowledge” (Briney). The Europeans were the founders of
the hourglass and were known for their glassmaking. The Portuguese, Italians, and Spanish were the most involved
during the Age of Exploration and by the fifteenth and sixteenth century the British, Spanish, and Dutch became
involved (Kreis). They were actively pursuing new trade routes and searching for resources around the world.
During the fourteenth century, the beginning of the Age of Exploration, there were not many opportunities to
travel, which led the Europeans to innovating more convenient inventions for ships. Many new ships were
invented, such as the caravel and galleon. The caravel was a sail ship with triangular sails enabling it t...