The Measure of Time
Overview
Beginning with the designs of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), pendulums set in motion an evolution in accuracy and utility of clocks and watches. Various escapements managed motion into regular intervals. Balance wheels made miniaturization possible. Reliability became the holy grail of clockmakers, as temperature, torque, and friction were countered. Measurements became precise enough to justify adding a second hand, and clocks and watches became standard instruments for navigation and scientific experimentation. Ultimately, accurate clocks initiated changes beyond the measurement of hours, minutes, and seconds, creating mechanical devices, new philosophical concepts, and a new view of time itself.
Background
There is only one measurement most people make every day—that of time. Clocks and watches are both widely used and highly personal devices. For timepieces—and a mechanical view of time—to permeate our culture, they had to become accurate and mobile. The first breakthrough came with a simple mechanism for dividing time into equal intervals—the pendulum. The person who had this insight was Galileo.
In Galileo's time, clocks were imprecise and used primarily for religious purposes. Mechanicalclocks had existed since about A.D. 1000, powered by falling weights and controlled by verge escapements (bars with points at each end that rocked back and forth, allowing the energy of the falling weight to escape bit by bit by limiting the turning of a toothed gear).
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