Watches - Western Civilization
History of Clocks
As long as 4000 years ago, the Babylonian priests of Mesopotamia began a careful and systematic study of the movements and patterns of the sun, moon, stars, and seasons. They folded all of their accumulated knowledge into a calendar, which very much resembles the one that we use today. The Babylonians established a system of timekeeping based on twelve months, seven days per week, and twenty four hour long days. In fact, the only thing that is different between the ancient calendar and the one we use today is that the Babylonians assigned thirty days to each month. When they realized that was about five days too few, they added a thirteenth month to the calendar every six years. The Romans modified this to have months of varying lengths within a twelve-month framework, and from then on, we have universally used the same standard divisions to track time.
From then on gifted minded individuals searched for a mechanism to use for accurate timekeeping, which led us to the origins of the clock. By 1500, most villages across Europe consisted of a large clock tower, as well as watchman who would call out the time periodically through out the day. At the time larger perpetual clocks tended to be fairly inaccurate, but there was an interest among the mechanically inclined to come up with newer and smaller versions for accurate personal use. It was around this time that a locksmith from Nuremberg, Germany named Peter Henlein invented the first pocket watch. Unlike a large clock which was driven by weights, Henlein's small portable clocks were powered by a coiled mainspring used in conjunction with a ratchet system. The incredible thing is that the mechanism used in the very first watch is not all that different from the way in which many watches are run today.
From the earliest days of mankind, people have been interested in time. Dating well before written history, humans were believed to have used the movement of the sun and the moon to tell time.
As long as 4000 years ago, the Babylonian priests of Mesopotamia began a careful and systematic study of the movements and patterns of the sun, moon, stars, and seasons. They folded all of their accumulated knowledge into a calendar, which very much resembles the one that we use today. The Babylonians established a system of timekeeping based on twelve months, seven days per week, and twenty four hour long days. In fact, the only thing that is different between the ancient calendar and the one we use today is that the Babylonians assigned thirty days to each month. When they realized that was about five days too few, they added a thirteenth month to the calendar every six years. The Romans modified this to have months of varying lengths within a twelve-month framework, and from then on, we have universally used the same standard divisions to track time.
From then on gifted minded individuals searched for a mechanism to use for accurate timekeeping, which led us to the origins of the clock. By 1500, most villages across Europe consisted of a large clock tower, as well as watchman who would call out the time periodically through out the day. At the time larger perpetual clocks tended to be fairly inaccurate, but there was an interest among the mechanically inclined to come up with newer and smaller versions for accurate personal use. It was around this time that a locksmith from Nuremberg, Germany named Peter Henlein invented the first pocket watch. Unlike a large clock which was driven by weights, Henlein's small portable clocks were powered by a coiled mainspring used in conjunction with a ratchet system. The incredible thing is that the mechanism used in the very first watch is not all that different from the way in which many watches are run today.
From the earliest days of mankind, people have been interested in time. Dating well before written history, humans were believed to have used the movement of the sun and the moon to tell time.