Standardisation of time

What is Time? The Standardisation of Time

The adoption of a single time standard in 1884 brought timekeeping into a new era of simultaneous communication. (This is the ninth post of Time and Clocks, the thread that follows Time and Calendars.) The Greenwich Observatory The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London was established in 1675 by King Charles II and from those first years it has remained a …

What is Time? The Race for Accuracy

The last 150 years or so have seen the rapid acceleration of technological advance mirrored by the production of ever more accurate clocks. (This is the eighth post of Time and Clocks, the thread that follows Time and Calendars.) Master and Slave Clocks The discovery of electricity was inevitably harnessed by clockmakers. The electric master and slave clocks in the …

Pendulum Clocks

What is Time? The Pendulum Clock

Until the middle of the seventeenth century, clocks did not need a minute or seconds hand because they were only accurate to the hour. (This is the seventh post of Time and Clocks, the thread that follows Time and Calendars.) In 1582 CE, in the early years of the scientific revolution of European civilisation Galileo is thought to have studied …

What is Time? Spring-loaded and Fantastic Clocks

What is Time? Spring-loaded and Fantastic Clocks

Developments from mechanical to finger-ring mounted clocks took only 200 years of refinement and craftsmanship. (This is the sixth post of Time and Clocks, the thread that follows Time and Calendars.) Mechanical clocks were large and heavy, made of brass or iron and very expensive to build. As interest in them increased and as technical skills developed, it became possible …