34 A Brief History of Time(Keeping):

In Days of Old

The earliest forms of timekeeping, common to all mankind, were based on the rhythm of the world we live in. The turning of the sun and moon and stars allowed ancient humans to mark the passing of days and weeks and seasons. Indeed, the concept of the twelve-hour day and twelve month year originated from Babylonian culture, which associated the number twelve with the mystical or the divine. Various methods of telling time arose among ancient cultures, including various shadow and sun-based methods. Herodotus ascribed the invention of the sundial to the Babylonians, and extant examples can be found from a wide variety of cultures dating back thousands of years (Burton, 1979).

However, sundials might not be considered clocks, in the modern sense, since they don’t actually measure the passage of time, but instead movement of the sun with all its variations for seasons and weather (and were, of course, useless at night). The first actual device to measure the passage of time more directly was the water-clock (pictured below). A basin with a small hole would be filled with water, and the level on the side of the basin as the water trickled out marked the passage of time. And herein lies the first noteworthy observation between clocks and STS. Almost all early timekeeping was found near the Equator, in Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Persia, and other warm, sunny areas. This is because clouds and short northern days left sundials useless, and cold, freezing weather would similarly foul the working of a water clock. This goes to show how something like climate can impact the technological development of a society (Andrewes, 2006).

Figure 1 shows an ancient Persian water clock. It is evidence of timekeeping methods evolving outside of Europe, with distinct design and function. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

The Strength and Certainty of Steel: Dawn of the Mechanical Clock

Eventually, humanity advanced from using natural forces to measure time, towards more artificial measures. The general definition that separates a mechanical clock from either a natural one, like the water clock or hourglass, or a digital one, is the presence of an escapement, a mechanical fitting which periodically halts the progression of gears driven by some motive force, setting the fundamental time unit of the clock. Escapements are considered the defining feature because this defines the unit of time the clock measures. So, while a sundial or a water clock are continuous and based on the rate of things beyond humanity’s control, the time measurement of mechanical clock is discrete, and determined solely by its maker. While some scholars attribute the first true clock to the European, weight driven tower clock circa 1283 AD (Andrewes, 2006), using the above definition, the actual first mechanical clock was invented in China, around 1092 A.D., by a scholar and engineer named Su Song (Burton, 1979). Note that the disagreement between the two sources does not indicate an error in reliability, but a disagreement of definitions; Su Song’s clock, though it contained a mechanical escapement and drive chain, drew motive power from a water wheel, and is thus not considered “fully mechanical” by some historians, since it depends on an external factor (the river’s flow) to function properly. Ultimately, the matter is one of semantics and beyond the scope of this text.

Regardless, it is agreed that the first clock driven by a hanging weight was built in Bedfordshire, England in 1283 in a project heavily backed by the Roman Catholic Church. This clock used an oscillating flywheel as an escapement, which functioned well enough to keep hours, but failed miserably at keeping minutes. It wasn’t until nearly 400 centuries later, with the dawn of the pendulum clock, that such precise timekeeping was developed. Finally, the spring drive, movement tolerating nautical clock, developed in 1761 by John Harrison, allowed for more accurate maritime navigation, and would remain the last major leap in clockworks until dawn of digital clocks (Andrewes, 2006).

Comparisons with Asian Timekeeping

Oddly enough, despite early innovation in the field by the Chinese, who developed escapements well before Europeans (Burton, 1979), mechanical clocks never really caught on in China. Perhaps this was due to a climate better suited to sundials, which were of course far more accessible. Whatever the reason, when Europeans did introduce mechanical clocks and watches to China, starting in the 17th century, they became quite popular, as the workmanship and precision required for them to function appealed greatly to the Emperor and his court.

On a different note, there was considerable cultural clash over competing systems of astronomy between Europe and China, which was a manifestation of Chinese astrology disagreeing with European Catholicism. This came to a conclusion when the Emperor challenged European astronomers to predict an eclipse more accurate than their Chinese counterparts; in 1668 AD, a Belgian priest did just that, and soon after was given a position in the Emperors court, effectively ending the dispute (Huele, 2021).

When Dutch tradesmen arrived in Japan in the mid-19th century, they experienced significant frustration with their Japanese workers and colleagues, as the Japanese “worked with an apparent indifference to the clock.” The spread of mechanical clocks, brought in from Europe, is largely credited by scholars for converting the Japanese culture from a fluid system of seasonal time (similar to that practiced in Europe and elsewhere prior to the development of mechanical timekeeping) to a rigid hour system. The Japanese produced their own clock, called wadokei, shortly after, and the modern Japanese culture of strict punctuality grew outward from there (Hashimoto, 2008).

Conclusion

Timekeeping has come a long way throughout history, and the unique environment, culture, and other attributes of specific societies has contributed immensely to its development, and the societies themselves have been impacted in turn.

References:

Burton, E. (1979). The history of clocks and watches. Rizzoli International Publications Inc.

Hashimoto, T. (2008). Japanese Clocks and the History of Punctuality in Modern Japan. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal, 2(1), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1215/s12280-008-9031-z

Huele, F. (2021). Clock-Makers and Time-Theoreticians: Between Europe and China from the 17th Century till the Present Day. Anthropology Open Access. https://doi.org/10.29011/2688-8688.100037

Andrewes, W JH. (2006, February 1). A Chronicle of Timekeeping. Scientific American.https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-chronicle-of-timekeeping-2006-02/