Horology - Taming Time and Timekeeping
The rising and the setting of the sun every day must have surely been enchanting man from the very beginning. Followed by a dark, quiet and peaceful night this must have multiplied the mystery surrounding the early humans. In order to comprehend this situation, we will have to be capable of imagining a world in the primordial existence, without fire, electricity, transportation and other gizmos that surround us today. The regular and natural duration of the sun and his absence, has to have triggered human desire to be able to measure this space in some way. The method which began centuries ago has evolved and perfected itself into what we now call as time. Our techniques have also efficiently evolved so much so that we are able to measure fractions of a single second accurately. This time challenge has been perfectly accepted and tamed responsibly by man.
The Sundials – Where we began
3500 years before Christ, the Egyptians built Obelisks. These were tall four-sided tapered monuments built in strategic locations and casing shadows tracking the movements from the sun. These moving shadows formed a kind of Sundial, enabling citizens to part the day using the size and placing of the shadow movements. This also enabled them see the shortest and the longest days of the year. Strategically placed markers around the base of these monuments would further indicate the subdivisions of time. This basic concept later around 1500 B.C., evolved into a more accurate “shadow clock” called a ‘Sundial.’ This was divided into 10 parts with indications for the two twilight hours.
Human search for accuracy helped the sundials evolve from flat horizontal and vertical plates to more elaborate forms. The hemispherical dial is a bowl shaped depression cut into a block of stone. It has a central vertical pointer and is scribed with sets of hour lines for different seasons. This hemicycle was invented about 300 B.C., and helped remove the useless half of the hemisphere. By the end of the year 30 B.C., we were having at least 13 types of different sundials being used across Greece, Asia Minor and Italy.
Water Clocks –
Clepsydras or water-clocks were the first devices that did not use the sun or other celestial bodies for the measurement of time. These water-clocks were originally designed by the ancient Egyptians. Different types of Clepsydras or water-clocks were commonly used in the Middle East and parts of Africa between 100 B.C., and 500 A.D. Elaborate and impressive mechanized water-clocks were developed by horologist and astronomers during this period. These clocks were however, not found to be very accurate and could not be relied upon to tell time any more closely than fairly large fractions of an hour.
Mechanical Clocks
These clocks, in fact, took the world by storm. Very clever arrangements of gears and wheels were devised, and, which turned by the weights attached to them. With the weights pulling downwards due to gravity, the wheels were made to turn in slow circles. The attached pointers on these wheels marked the hours. These clocks eventually became common in churches, monasteries and most public places, and put up time as public display.
These mechanical clocks had many advances and innovations until recently. Europe was mostly the centre of this activity and many scientists including Galileo contributed for the growth of the mechanical clocks' industry.
Quartz Clocks
This has been a quantum jump from the mechanical structure of the clocks that we had. The running of any quartz clock is based on the electric property of the quartz crystal. The interaction between the mechanical stress and the electric field causes the quartz crystal to vibrate and generate a constant electric signal which is used to measure time.
These clocks continue to dominate the market as they are able to maintain perfection in time measurement, and are accurate and reliable in performance. They are also ideal and easier to mass produce at extremely low costs.
We will always be improvising and device sharper and more accurate ways of keeping time. The quartz is now moving into the digital world, and we are bound to find new ways, and get the better of time.
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