text: why do clocks run clockwise?   note that the direction of the written language has nothing whatsoever    to do with the way clocks run.        the clock is a mechanical timepiece modeled on its predecessor, the    sundial. north of the tropic of cancer, the sun affects the sundial in    the following way:      * sun rises in the east: shadow falls in the west.      * sun, at noon, is south: shadow falls in the north.      * sun sets in the west: shadow falls in the east.            the shadow moves in a w to n to e rotation, which is what we call    "clockwise." when mechanical clocks were invented, this rotation was    duplicated. regardless of the direction of your written language, the    clock hands move the wrong way half the time!        south of the tropic of capricorn, a sundial moves counter-clockwise,    and between the tropics, the motion of the shadow depends on the time    of year. had the clock been an invention of south american indians or    southern africans, "clockwise" would likely mean the opposite    rotation.