Since the period from dawn to dusk and from dusk to day were not identical-changing from season to season and even day to day-the length of an hour changed accordingly. Derived from the Greek word hora, an hour denoted the interval between the rising of specific stars at night. By 2100 b.c., Egyptians had begun dividing the day and night each into 12 parts. At first, they assigned such broad categories as late morning or early afternoon, or identified the time of day by its association to mealtimes. Thousands of years ago, humans began to separate the day into sections. For a variety of reasons, however, humans from past to present have desired smaller increments for determining the time. This natural unit of time is still the basic unit of timekeeping. One solar day spans one rotation of the earth on its axis. Mechanical clocks not only made timekeeping much more precise, which was important for scientific purposes, but also introduced it to the masses when centrally located clock towers equipped with bells loudly struck the hour. It wasn't until nearly seven centuries later that mechanical clocks began to make their appearance. One of the first successful timekeeping devices was the water clock, which was perfected in China in the eighth century. A concept rather than a physical entity, time eluded accurate measurement for many centuries. All rights reserved.The Evolution of Timekeeping: Water Clocks in China and Mechanical Clocks in Europe OverviewĮarly in history, humans sought methods to tell time. Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Those made in England were at first of oak and later of walnut and mahogany simpler in style, their chief decoration was inlay work. In France the tall cabinet clocks, or grandfather clocks, were often of oak elaborately ornamented with brass and gilt. With the development of the craft of cabinetmaking, more attention was concentrated on the clock case.
these were the forerunners of the grandfather clocks. These clocks, probably obtained chiefly from England and Holland, were used in the Virginia and New England colonies.Ĭlocks with long cases to conceal the long pendulums and weights came into use after the mid-17th cent. Before the pendulum was introduced, they were spring-driven or weight-driven those driven by weights had to be placed on a wall bracket to allow space for the falling weights. were variously known as lantern clocks, birdcage clocks, and sheep's-head clocks they were of brass, sometimes ornate, with a gong bell at the top supported by a frame. Early clocks used in dwellings in the 17th cent. By applying Galileo's law of the pendulum, the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented (1656 or 1657) a pendulum clock, probably the first. When the coiled spring came into use (c.1500), it made possible the construction of the smaller and lighter-weight types. The early clocks driven by hanging weights were bulky and heavy.
few mechanical clocks were found outside cathedral towers, monasteries, abbeys, and public squares. for the tower of the palace (later the Palais de Justice) of Charles V of France by the clockmaker Henry de Vick (Vic, Wieck, Wyck) of Württemburg. Probably the early clock closest to the modern ones was that constructed in the 14th cent. In France, Rouen was especially noted for the skill of its clockmakers and watchmakers.
Clocks were placed in a clock tower at Westminster Hall, London, in 1288 and in the cathedral at Canterbury in 1292. Paul's Cathedral, London, in 1286 a dial was added to the clock in the 14th cent. Mechanical figures that struck a bell on the hour were installed in St. Gerbert, a learned monk who became Pope Sylvester II, is often credited with the invention of a mechanical clock, c.996. Some authorities attribute the first weight-driven clock to Pacificus, archdeacon of Verona in the 9th cent. It is not definitely known when the first mechanical clocks were invented. The operation of a clock depends on a stable mechanical oscillator, such as a swinging pendulum or a mass connected to a spring, by means of which the energy stored in a raised weight or coiled spring advances a pointer or other indicating device at a controlled rate.