You might be interested in the book Inventing Temperature by Hasok Chang which looks at similar questions but for temperature instead of time, both historically

You might be interested in the book Inventing Temperature by Hasok Chang which looks at similar questions but for temperature instead of time, both historically and philosophically. For example, you can define a temperature scale using the boiling point of water, but how do you know water always boils at the same temperature without a temperature scale? (And of course, it doesn't -- even at constant pressure, liquid water can exceed 100°C without boiling)