The Evolution of Timekeeping Devices
- Adel y7
- Feb 19
- 1 min read
Every tick of a clock formulates history, but what about the history of clocks themselves? Humans have always kept track of time in some way. Devices and methods have gradually improved through a series of new inventions such as. Today most of the programs and events are time-based, so it is very important to know what time it is.
„The shadow by my finger cast, divides the future from the past” -Henry Van Dyke These are sundials. Sundials and waterclocks were the first devices that could measure time. They were first used in ancient Egypt from 1500 BC. Sundials used the movement of the sun to measure time. Waterclocks, also called clepsydra, use a controlled flow of liquid to measure time. Incense clocks were commonly used in China by the 6th century. Incense clocks were made up of incense sticks which were manufactured to a known rate of combustion, used to measure time.
In the medieval period, Islamic water clocks were unrivalled in their sophistication until the mid-14th century. In medieval Europe, purely mechanical clocks were only developed after the innovation of the bell-striking alarm, which was used to signal the right time to ring the monastic bells. The invention of mechanical clocks was a huge breakthrough in Europe. Henry de Vick invented a mechanical clock in 1360, which established clock design for the next three hundred years. Small improvements were made during the early 15th century which allowed small clocks to be built for the first time.
The next major improvement was not until the 17th century. This was the discovery that clocks could be controlled by harmonic oscillators. That means they discovered what today we call a pendulum clock. The earliest drawings of a pendulum clock were produced by Leonardo da Vinci in 1493, and in 1582 Galileo Galilei investigated it in more detail, discovering that frequency was only dependent on length and weight had no effect. In 1656 Dutch polymath Christiaan Huygens planned and produced a pendulum clock which was so much more accurate than other kinds of mechanical timekeepers that few earlier mechanisms have survived. Other innovations in timekeeping during this period include inventions for striking clocks, the repeating clock and the deadbeat escapement.
Several errors have been found in the early pendulum clocks, like temperature variation and another problem which was tackled by English clockmakers John Harrison and George Graham. As a result, of a naval disaster, where many people were lost due to the lack of ability to determine longitude, governments offered a prize to anyone who could find a way to solve that problem. As a response, Harrison built a great succession by this introducing the term chronometer to the world. Electric clocks, which were invented in 1840, were mostly used to control the pendulum clocks until 1940 when this role was taken by quartz clocks.
The wristwatch became popular after World War I. It had many variations including magnetic, solar-powered, battery-driven, and non-magnetic. Plastic parts and transistors have both been placed on the market. We have only started using smartwatches after 2010(companies). Seeing the success of smartwatches, companies like Samsung and Apple started to produce them. From that point, smartwatches and smartphones became the most common timekeeping device. To take advantage of multifunctional electronics, these have been equipped with additional functions to make them more useful to the user.
Even though everyone uses watches or checks on their phone the most accurate clocks are the atomic clocks which can be accurate to a few billionths of a second per year and are used to calibrate other clocks and timekeeping instruments. These atomic clocks serve as a basis for the international definition of seconds. The accurate timekeeping capabilities of atomic clocks are also used for navigation by satellite networks and GPS. The timekeeping accuracy of atomic clocks is important because the smaller the error in time measurement, the smaller the error in distance obtained by multiplying the time by the speed of light.
The history of clocks is an amazing and fascinating topic. It is a great discussion topic and a wonderful opportunity to gain experience about the world. Clocks have developed so humans can keep track of time which has slowly been accomplished by the work of brilliant minds before us. The urge to know what time it is innate in every human being and this made it obligatory for us to invent clocks however we could. They have evolved drastically over a lengthy period of time, keeping us on our toes with each passing round of innovation.
Comentarios