The Invention of the Clock
It was the Sumerians of Mesopotamia, as early as about 2000 BC, who first felt the need to track time using a real device. Before this, people used astronomy; their knowledge of the planets and stars, to figure out the approximate time. It was them who created the sexagesimal system, or the 60-second, 60-minute system, by way of shadow clocks using a large obelisk. We will learn more about shadow clocks as well.
There are several devices we can use to tell time, such as hourglasses, sundials, candle clocks, water clocks, shadow clocks, incense clocks, and these all came before the invention of the mechanical clock that is used in today’s world. Sundials and shadow clocks require sunlight, which helps tell the time according to the shadows created by the sun. Water clocks were pretty much water reservoirs with a small hole on the bottom, and as the water drained by the hour, it was marked on the reservoir. Candle clocks follow a similar concept, where markings are made next to the candle to denote as time passes by.
All of these clocks had their limitations, though. Hourglasses only ran for an hour, then you have to flip it again; shadow clocks and sundials only worked in the daytime; water clocks were less reliable because of differing levels of water pressure, temperature, etc. What these limitations did is what they often do — paved the way for a more durable and more easily usable clock. Yes, this is the mechanical clock that we use today.
The earliest form of a mechanical clock came nearly 2000 years later, in 3rd Century BCE — the water-powered one in Greece, which used water to power rotations that told the time. The next versions of this came in 10th Century China and 11th Century Iran, using mercury. Europe is where a true mechanical clock was created for the first time in the 14th Century. It used a balance wheel to measure the time appropriately and was a rather bulky device that required quite a lot of space to function.
The word clock comes from the French word for bell, which is “cloche.” It is helpful to know this when looking for a reference as to why the first-ever mechanical clocks were built and worked in bell towers. It was because there was space in these towers to fit the large mechanics of clocks.
The pendulum is another important invention that is closely linked with the clock. It is believed that the pendulum is the device that helps keep the accuracy of the clock. This is the reason why you see pendulums hanging below clocks very often. The pendulum clock was invented in the year 1656 by Dutch horologist, Christiaan Huygens. The precursor to this invention was Galileo’s comment sometime in the 1500s that pendulums could be used in order to make timekeeping more accurate.
The revolutionary invention of the pendulum clock paved the way for many forms of the mechanical clock to enter the world. While the initial mechanical clock was large and heavy, clocks of smaller sizes entered the world. The pocket watch was one of these, which made its way into the world as a result of people wanting portable clocks.
Later versions of the clock include the quartz oscillator, whose technology was used to create wristwatches. Atomic clocks came next, which used atomic vibrations to coordinate time. These proved to be the most accurate of all others and were thus used to calibrate them. What came next in the world of timekeeping were digital watches and clocks, and all sorts of clocks with many different variations. Isn’t our creativity and curiosity that makes us wonder about all of these things?
Curiosity is the guiding factor of all world-changing inventions. Click here to take the Curiosity Test to find out your Curiosity Type.
