Hello again;
For fun I removed my globe from its' frame and re-inserted
it upside down. Now Antarctica is at the top.
I suppose nothing has really changed except my point of view.
I notice that when I change south to north, east is now on
my left as I look north. This is disorienting to say the
least. I suppose I should also change east to west but then
the sun would rise in the west and set in the east!
I notice also that viewed from the top, the earth is now
turning in a clockwise direction. This makes more sense for
time keeping devices that have hands.
I think north and south, east and west, up and down, top and
bottom are arbitrary directions that could change if we
wanted to.
However, the imaginary circle we trace in the air for
describing clockwise direction cannot change. Sure we can
swap names but that circle we trace identifies a direction
of travel and will forever be the same direction.
Suppose I was in charge and I changed south to north and
east to west. Would our sundials all still work? Would it
simply be a matter of changing the NSEW labels or would the
hour marks have to be flipped also?
Has anyone ever made an upside down sundial?
thanks;
brent
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