Too Long; Didn't Read
<span>We</span> take time for granted. Not in the “live like it was your last day on earth” kind of way (though likely in that way too). If you’re wearing a watch, look at it. Does it have a second hand? Why? Just in case you suddenly need to stand in as time keeper for an Olympic sprint? Does it have a minute hand? Almost certainly. Time, seen as such, is a relatively new and novel contribution to humanity. It wasn’t a technical issue. The ancients were no dummies when it came to coming up with solutions to their pressing problems. The Chinese and the Vikings figured out precise compasses over 1000 years ago. Ancient Roman concrete was vastly superior to our own, and in China they had developed a surprisingly accurate and effective seismoscope to detect distant earthquakes by AD 132! In fact, even precise mechanical clocks had been invented by 725 AD, yet somehow didn’t catch on for another thousand years. Why?