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Why Sundials Still Work

電池もネットもいらない、4000年動き続ける時計の話。

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Long before there were digital clocks, people told time by watching shadows. The earliest sundials, found in Egypt, are about four thousand years old. They are still accurate today. This is unusual. Most ancient technology has been replaced because newer versions are better. The wheel is now the tire, the candle is now the lightbulb. But sundials, in their basic form, still tell time as well as they did when pharaohs were watching them. The reason is simple. A sundial is calibrated against the sun, and the sun has not changed. Every other clock in human history needs a power source — a battery, a wound spring, a swinging pendulum, an electric grid. The sundial needs only daylight. There are limits, of course. Sundials do not work at night, in fog, or on cloudy days. They have to be installed at the correct latitude. But within those limits, they have been quietly correct for forty centuries. Sometimes the simplest tools outlast the most clever ones.

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people told time by watching shadowsコロケーション
人々は影を見て時間を知った
〈tell time〉= 『時間を読む/知る』、コロケーション。〈by + -ing〉= 『〜することによって』、手段。
Most ancient technology has been replaced文法
古代技術のほとんどは置き換えられてきた
現在完了の受動態 (has been + 過去分詞)。『過去から今までの変化の累積』。
as well as they did when pharaohs were watching them文法
ファラオが眺めていた時と同じくらい正確に
〈as well as〉= 『〜と同じくらい上手に』、副詞句の比較。〈as well as they did〉= 当時と現在の比較。
calibrated against the sun語彙
太陽に対して較正されている
〈calibrate against + 名詞〉= 『〜に対して較正する』、科学・工学の専門語。
Every other clock in human history needs a power source文法
人類史上の他のすべての時計は、電源を必要とする
〈every other X〉= 『他のすべての X』、強い限定。
they have been quietly correct for forty centuries文法
40世紀の間ひっそりと正しい時を刻み続けてきた
現在完了 + for + 期間。継続を強調。〈quietly correct〉= 『静かに正しい』、副詞 + 形容詞の組み合わせ。
Sometimes the simplest tools outlast the most clever ones.語彙
最も巧妙な道具よりも、最も単純な道具が長持ちすることがある。
〈outlast〉= 『〜より長く存続する』、out- + last の合成動詞。

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