History of Math UNIT 1

CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF MEASUREMENT
Lesson 1 Ancient Measurements Tools
Royal Cubits
In ancient Egypt, the standard linear measurement was based on the forearm
length from the middle fingertip to the elbow bottom, and it’s called royal cubit (meh
neswt). There are fourteen rods described and compared by the German Egyptologist Karl Richard
Lepsius in 1865. These cubits rods range from 52.35 – 52.92 centimeters in length and are consists of
seven palms, and of which each palm is divided into four fingers. The fingers are further subdivided. In
general use, the cubit measured approximate;y 52.3 centimeters. The particular length of the royal cubit
is encrypted in the King’s Chamber of the Greatest Pyramid of Giza.
Water Clocks & Hourglasses

Water clocks referred to by the original name “clepsydra” (Picture 1). The passage of time was
measured by the quantity of the water or powder that had flowed into the lower part of the vessel. Or
by the decrease in the level of the water in the upper level of the vessel. Powder hourglass is stored in a
hexagonal iron frame with six small pillars. The glass partitions are joined at the center by paper disks.
The time passed was measured by the quantity of powder falling from the upper part to the
lower one.
Clepsydras Water clock

invented by Plato Sand hourglass
Obelisks & Sundials
The days were first divided into two equal parts by the ancient Egyptians.
Obelisks are tower-like with four sides, slender and tapering, erected as early as 3500 BCE. Like in
sundial, the shadows if an obelisk enabling the people to partition the day into two parts, morning and
noon. This ancient measuring tool able to show the year’s longest and shortest day. Later, makers of the
obelisk added label around the base of the tower to indicate further time subdivision within the day, like
sundials.
Obelisk
Sundials are the earliest type of timekeeping tools in ancient times. It can indicate the time of the day by
the shadow of some object exposed to the sun’s rays. A small L shape object called “gnomon” is placed
in the center of a circle with the labeled time of the days called “dial.” The shadow will point to the
corresponding time in the “dial.” In ancient Greeks and Romans, people thought that the sun moves
around the earth. They also understand that the sun did not travel at the right angles into the earth’s
axis, and so they know that the planet is tilted. Since the sun traced a circled along the celestial sphere,
centered on the planet earth, it is known as the “ecliptic.” You may also notice, the labeled or the dial in
sundials are arranged only to the place where the shadows can travel.
Sundials
Roman Calendars
Roman borrowed parts of their earliest known calendar from the Greeks. The first Roman calendar was
lunar, based on the Greek lunar calendar, where months begin and end when new moons occur. The
word “calendar” comes from the Latin word “ kalandae,” which means the first day of the month.
Some of the names of the months from ancient times are still in use today.
Roman Calendar consists of ten months entitled: Martius (March), Aprilis (April), Maius (May), Junius
(June), Quintilis (July), Sextilis (August), September, October, November, and December. The first 4
names borrowed from Greek and the last six names were taken from the words for five up to ten.
Romulus, the legendary first ruler of Rome, is supposed to have introduced this calendar in the 700s
B.C.E. They able to complete the Calendar with the Julian Calendar. The numbers of days in a Month
were extended to bring the calendar’s total to 365 days, making it genuinely solar. This change was
supplemented by the addition of an extra day every four years (after February 23rd) because of the
nearly six extra hours beyond 365 days in a tropical year. Some 200 remains of Roman calendars have
been found, and they are collectively known as Fasti.
Roman Fasti
Rulers & Yardsticks

In the 16th century William Bedwell invented the ruler in same era where alltime creativity was high,
like Mona Lisa, Sistine Chaperl and many other great works. But before then, historians found ivory and
wood rulers in Ancient Egyptians and Greeks.
Odometers
An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such
as a bicycle or car. Early forms of the odometer existed in the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as in
ancient China.
The odometers that was used in the cars that first hit the road in the late 19th Century, was invented 100
years earlier than the car. Benjamin Franklin attached a device to his carriage that would help measure
the mileage of his routes inspired the modern version.
Reconstruction of Hero's odometer, 1st century AD, Alexandria,
A Smiths speedometer from the 1920s showing odometer and trip meter.
An electronic odometer (below) with digital display
Lesson 1.2 Metric and English System

 Measurement - the length, amount, or size of something that is measured.
 18th century – is when measurement became a consistent system.
 The terms for many units of measurement came from human morphology—for example, the
foot, the hand, the pace, and others. However, these units of measurement were not
consistent.

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CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF MEASUREMENT

Lesson 1 Ancient Measurements Tools

Water Clocks & Hourglasses

Clepsydras Water clock

Rulers & Yardsticks

An electronic odometer (below) with digital display

Lesson 1.2 Metric and English System

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