12/2/2023 0 Comments Alarm clock on wheelsThe human body has developed its own repertoire of alarms. Read more: Birdsong has inspired humans for centuries: is it music? Less melodic, though equally striking, is another possible bird noise associated with early rising - “sparrow’s fart” - first attested to in the 19th century. In Australia, we often evoke birdsong when we think about sleep and waking - from morning caroling magpies, to the versatile currawong or the midnight call of willie wagtails. Shutterstockīirdsong remains an important way of experiencing waking up. ‘Cocker-doodle-doo!’ Pre-modern night was divided into multiple segments, and the time before dawn was named for the cock’s crow. Scientists have since discovered roosters really do know what time that is. One early Latin word for the time before dawn was gallicinium, the time of the cock’s crow. A rich vocabulary emerged in ancient languages for the different parts of the night. In the pre-modern world, without electric lights and electric alarms, people paid more attention to the quality of light and the sounds around them. Some of the earliest words we have for time measurement show people’s particular interest in dividing up the different parts of the night. When did we first start using alarms, and what did they sound like? What’s changed about the sounds of time, and what hasn’t? Birdsong The job of waking us up when our body clocks are telling us to sleep is a big ask. These modern electronic alarms are just the latest in a long sequence of methods used to wake us from sleep: from the watchmen on ancient city walls waiting for the dawn to more recent clocks on wheels that have to be chased to stop ringing. The first beats of the day are often the dreaded beeps of the alarm clock or a digital symphony from a bedside phone. It’s the time of year when we Australians start returning to our normal rhythms.
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