ABSTRACT
Those who live in sight of clear horizons to the east or west and with few sources of artificial light are likely still to have something of the same sense of time derived from observing the heavens as the ancient world took for granted. Sunrise and sunset mark the major part of the working day, as well as signalling geographical direction to east and west. Noon is generally when the sun rides highest in the sky (barring the summer months, when many countries shift to some form of ‘daylight saving’ and turn their clocks forward an hour). We still talk of ‘sunrise’ and ‘sunset’, even though we know that these are illusions caused by the rotation of the earth beneath our feet and are not the result of the movement of the sun. In that sense, we are still children of the ancient world.
