Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise? | Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains...

What do you think the world would be like if we didn't have GPS time today? What technologies that we take for granted would be impossible?

I'm 59 years old, and I love these explainer videos! My kids are always confused when I say "quarter till" or "10 to". Even now, when I read a digital time, I envision an analog clock in my head.

Having been born in Ecuador, I grew up knowing that when I didn't cast a shadow it was twelve o'clock on any day of the year, always. And also how easy it was to recognize any cardinal point by seeing where the sun was during the morning or afternoon. My beautiful Ecuador 💛💛💙❤️

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of knowledge Neil has in his head!

"Like Spiderman in the middle of a field" WONDERFUL. I laughed at this. :)

I love it when I can laugh and learn something cool at the same time. I'm very glad that we have people like Neil deGrasse Tyson as a science communicator.

Fun fact: In my language, we don't actually say "clockwise". It's "with the sun", and counter-clockwise would be "against the sun". This little detail is actually important, since because of this naming convention, I've always known why dials on a clock face turn in the direction they do.

I don't know if this is the normal format for this show, but these two definitely make a good team. Informative with a healthy mix of lighthearted humor. 👍

If anyone wonders about the term ‘gnomon’ in the sundial… it actually was one of the first astronomical and geometrical instruments devised.. the g is silent only in the English form of the word. it literally means ‘the one who knows’, so it makes things ‘known’ to us. :) thanks for all you do! Keep up the good work and knowledge! You are my treasure channel <3

I was taught that in grade school. It was fun to revisit. As soon as Neil asked why clocks move clockwise, I immediately thought of sundials thanks to my 3rd grade teacher.

I remember when I was a kid in the early sixties. You could call a number for the CORRECT time! A useful service.

For me, this was the best Start Talk yet. Interesting, informative and deep laughter. Keep 'em coming.

I was in college when digital watches started to dominate, and I remember my roommate commenting that we were witnessing the beginning of the end of "clockwise." About 15 years later, a young boy asked me what time it was. I looked at my digital watch, mentally converted the time to analog, and told him it was a quarter to 5. He looked confused, and asked me, "That's 4 what?" I told him it was 4:45, but he didn't trust me, and I overheard him repeat his question to the next person he encountered!

The sunset direction changing every season was one of the things that absloutely blew my mind when I experienced it moving from Yemen to Canada. Time keeping back home was so easy, I would easily know what time (hour) it is just by looking at the sun/shadow during the day. But then, moving to Canada with swinging day/night hours throughout the year was so confusing to me and so weird to experience.. I would lose track of time and will have to keep setting alarms or look at my phone to know what time it is.. definitely an interesting life experience, lol.

Dear Neil and Chuck, greetings from the Netherlands. Thank you ever so much for this episode. I tune in every week, but I found this one particularly special. It felt like a splendid lecture, suitable for all ages. The discussion about the Sun and Earth, the North and the South, was truly captivating. And let's not forget Chuck's jokes - they were absolutely brilliant. The image of a pointless Spiderman in the meadow left me in stitches! Perhaps the lack of practical application of geometry in our daily lives, and the scarcity of geometric thinking, is the very reason we encounter a growing number of flat-minded individuals across the globe these days.

Chuck is by far the greatest co-host ive ever seen

In the early days of clocks in the UK , their times were set roughly by the time of the midday sun. This would mean that it would be 12 noon in London and in Bristol to the west perhaps 15 minutes behind. It became standardised when the railways arrived and they needed a standard time to set their timetables

I did not expect this video to be as interesting as it ended up being. Love your channel. Making even the most seemingly mundane topics fascinating.

Actually, you can be in the Northern hemisphere, and have the sun appear north of you. This can happen anywhere between the tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees N, and the equator. You have to get north of the tropic of Cancer to guarantee that the sun will always be south of you. Also, definitionally, whichever way we engineered clocks to rotate is the direction we would call clockwise so...

Thank you I never looked at this like this. Very easy to remember. These are important factors to remember when hiking or traveling on Earth. Thanks again Neil’s, enthusiasm the way he conveys information is easily burned into the memory better that any teacher I’ve ever had. The passion is tool for Neil to express his knowledge. Thank you Neil and thank you to the host of this show. Keep up the good work.