Sexagesimal (3rd millennium BC)

-time as we know it today is measured with a system developed by the Sumerians and later used
by the Babylonians. This is a sexagesimal system which basis is 60. Where does it come from? It is
possible to count up to 12 by using just one hand. The thumb is pointing at each section on a finger and
there are three sections to each finger. 4*3=12 and that makes a dozen. The other hand can count in
dozens. 12*5=60

Shadow clock (Sundials) about 1500 BCE

-the earliest timekeeping were reliant on the Sun. Egyptians divided the day into fourteen
parts… 10 daytime, 4 twilight parts (2 in the morning and 2 in the evening) and with a sundial, they can
measure the time precisely. However, these clocks are useless on overcast days and at night

Water clocks (Clepsydra “Water Thief”) Around 325 BC

The first implement did not rely on celestial clues were the water clocks. The earliest description
of a water clock came from an Egyptian pharaoh although it only measured hours, water clocks was still
the best solution yet. Plato, the famous Greek philosopher, created the first alarm clock by developing a
water clock. As the water built up in a jar, it whistled that woke him up

Candle clocks

In 520 CE, the Chinese poem by you yonathan mentioned a clock which was a candle capable of
measuring time at night. King Alfred, the Great, who lived in the ninth century, used a special device
with six candles each were 12 inches high and made for 72 pennyweights of wax and was able to burn
up to 4 hours…. Therefore, every inch represented 20 minutes and six candles lasted for 24 hours

Hourglasses (14TH CENTURY)

-origin is unclear but one thing is for sure, it has been used on medieval ships for navigational
purposes. For example, in 1522 when Magellan travelled around the globe, he had 18 hourglass on
board.

Mechanical clocks

-in Europe, the first clock makers were Christian monks. A man who is known as Pope Sylvester
II built the first clock in the 11th century. These time keeping inventions became very popular around the
14th century and they were mainly used in churches and cathedrals.

Pocket watches (1524)

-the first pocket watch was invented by German locksmith, Peter Henlein. Accuracy is approx.
30min/day.. but it was portable…pendulum for a clock, the balanced spring is for a pocket watch.
Christiaan Huygens. Balanced spring increases the accuracy up to 5min. per day. DAWN OF ACCURATE
TIMEKEEPING AND THE REVOLUTION OF THE WATCHMAKING INDUSTRY

Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens (1609 and 1656)

 -invented the telescope and also discovered the moons of Jupiter and he contributed a lot to the
evolution of the timekeeping devices with his experiments on the pendulum. He realized the regular
𝐿
swing of a pendulum can be used to regulate the clock 𝑇 ≈ 2𝜋√𝑔

Christiaan Huygens

-developed the first pendulum clock. This was a giant leap in the position of time keeping
devices

Wristwatches

-in 1904, a Brazilian aviator asked the famous watchmaker to make him a wristwatch. Few years
later, the WW1 came and it changed everything. Aviators and soldiers were the first men who wore
wristwatched… simply because it was more convenient to look at wristwatch rather than take out a
pocket watch during a battle

Quartz watches

Quartz crystals and its piezoelectric ability made possible to create the most accurate
timekeeping device in the 1930s (accuracy: few seconds per year). How does it work? When a quartz
crystal is exposed to electrical charge, it resonates at a certain frequency. This is more than 30 thousand
times per second. The electrical circuit measures the quartz frequency and controls a motor which
drives the gears to the hand.

Atomic clocks

-nearly 40 years later, the first atomic clock has been built and a new time standard has been
set. Why is it so precise? It uses the cesium atom to measure time and in 1967, it is recognized as the
new international unit of time. (NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, NIST) 1
second was defined as 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the cesium atom resonant frequency. This clocks
can keep it accuracy with in a second in a few million years time.

Digital watches. Smartwatches.