There comes a time when some countries set there clocks back to take advantage of the early rise of the sun and the longer days. Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been employed by many nations ever since. There are other nations who used them before and stopped doing so.
There are a lot of questions that arise regarding Daylight Saving time. When do we set our clocks back? Why do we need to set our clocks back? What are the effects of DST? These are just examples of the things that are always questioned about the practice.
A Brief History
Before the invention of daylight savings time, there are a lot of people who have thought about taking advantage of the natural light produced by the sun during seasons when days are longer than the nights. The practice of setting clocks back has been done since the Grandeur of Rome. Benjamin Franklin also expressed his concern regarding this matter while staying in France as envoy of the United States. Although contrary to popular belief, Benjamin Franklin did not invent Daylight Savings Time.
DST was invented by an English inventor named William Willet. Willet shined about the habit of Londoners of waking up late during summer time. Although Willet pursued the passing of a bill of using DST, it was not used when he was still alive. The first country to used DST was Germany. It was employed by the Germans along with their allies during the war.
Advantage and Disadvantages
So why and when do we set our clocks back? DST is employed in the United States starting on the first week of March and Ending on the first week of November. Although the main purpose of the use of DST is to save energy, it was lately observed that this seems to cause the opposite. It was applicable in the past when people usually used candles and the incandescent lamp for lighting purposes. Some countries discontinued using DST when it merited little in their campaign on saving electricity.
Other advantages observed by countries using DST is the decrease on vehicular accidents, health advantages and lesser crime rate although little evidence could be gathered regarding the latter two. But for some, the hassle of setting the clock backwards overcomes the advantage of DST. Time changes are often hazardous to computers, which are very sensitive to changes in the time variable. This is a very huge concern especially when computers are used to do financial transactions 24/7.
Filed under: Clocks, Time keeping, Units of time, Watches | Tagged: Clocks, daylight saving, time
