To understand the "why" of daylight saving, we have to dig into the past.
In ancient times, the start and end of labor was determined by the rising and setting of the sun. The notion of having to abide by a specific time schedule is a product of the industrial revolution, when manufacturing factory owners began enforcing time schedules. Be at work at 7AM. Eat at 12PM. Go home at 8PM.
As people of industrial society, we’re accustomed to living by a strict time-based schedule. Nowadays, the starting and stopping in the operation of nearly all of our institutions are based on fixed, precise measurements of time. A store opens at an agreed upon moment in time and is opened for some measure of time. Since so many of our activities are based on some agreed upon measure of time, what if we change the time? What effect will that have on the activities?
In the mid-19th century, a man by the name of George Vernon Hudson pondered those exact questions that led to the implementation of "daylight savings". Hudson was working a shift job that gave him leisure time to collect insects, and led him to value after-hours daylight.
George had later shifts (not uncommon amongst industrial workers), so he wished for the sun to still be out by the time his boss let him off! But if his boss lets him off really late, then he wouldn’t be able to collect insects. Of course, he could always ask his boss to let him out earlier, but most factory owners weren’t that nice - and they certainly weren’t going to change their hours of operation just for a bunch of insect collectors!
Now if your boss won't let you off early, who should you appeal to? Well, Hudson went to the government. If the government moved the time forward, he will be able to get off work early and enjoy the sun! And this concept of moving the time forward to enjoy more sun in the evening is what is now called Daylight Saving.
Unfortunately for George, the government laughed at him. And when this idea of changing the time was finally enacted in 1916, he was already dead.
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