Time - how accurate can we be?
John Clark, on the Britarch mailing list, in a discussion about calendrical accuracy of Stonehenge quoted R L Poole /Medieval
Reckonings of Time/ (1918) 46-7
'If we suppose a traveller to set out from Venice on March 1, 1245, he would find himself in 1244 when he reached Florence; and if after a short stay he went on to Pisa, the year 1246 would already have begun there. Continuing on his journey westward he would find himself again in 1245 when he entered Provence and on arriving in France before Easter (April 16) he would be once more in 1244.'
My contribution was that before Railway time, created by the GWR in 1840, Local Mean times were set up by sundial.
'If we suppose a traveller to set out from Venice on March 1, 1245, he would find himself in 1244 when he reached Florence; and if after a short stay he went on to Pisa, the year 1246 would already have begun there. Continuing on his journey westward he would find himself again in 1245 when he entered Provence and on arriving in France before Easter (April 16) he would be once more in 1244.'
My contribution was that before Railway time, created by the GWR in 1840, Local Mean times were set up by sundial.
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