The Bowl That Sinks
The idea: anything that happens at a steady rate can measure time.
Read it
Who is in this book
-
Ledger No object leaves without a slip that says what you saw, before what you think from BackstageQuest -
Beto a child of the Green Takes things apart -
Cup A floating boat sinks to the same line for the same weight from MeasureQuest -
Lan a child of the Green Goes first; makes a friend in a minute -
Tick Time is measured by something that happens at a steady rate from MeasureQuest
Every recurring character has a short tune, so you can tell who is on stage before a word is said. The tunes play only when you tap, and the Reading Access sound switch turns them off.
The Honest Page
Which parts are true, stretched or made up — and what does nobody know?
True
- In India a sinking-bowl water clock, the ghaṭī, measured time: a small bowl with a hole floats in water and sinks after a set time. A day was divided into 60 ghaṭīs of 24 minutes. Source
- In Persia a similar bowl, sinking in a pot of water, timed how long each farmer could take water from a qanat, an underground channel. Source
- Sixty sinkings of 24 minutes is 1440 minutes, which is 24 hours.
Stretched
- The bowl sinks after exactly 24 minutes every time. What we simplified: Real bowls were made carefully to sink in one ghaṭī, but the water's warmth and dirt in the hole can make each sinking a little different.
Made up
- The Lending Museum and its copper bowl are made up. Ledger comes from BackstageQuest, and Cup and Tick from MeasureQuest.
Nobody knows
- When the very first sinking bowl was made, or by whom. Source
Tell it back
Tell the story in your own words: who was there, what went wrong, and what they found out. Then the fourth loan slip, stamped goes on your belt.
On your belt: the fourth loan slip, stamped.
Your belt lives on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Ring the hammer for someone
Pick this book for someone younger. The link carries only the book, and it will wait for them on the Green.