Clocks have been around, in some form or another, for between 5000 and 6000 years. The earliest known clocks were sundial in nature and appeared around 3500BC in Egypt . Consisting of tall obelisks they used the shadow cast by the sun to indicate the passing of time.
Other early clocks included water clocks, candle clocks and, in the early fourteenth century, mechanical clocks were developed, appearing mostly in public places. These first mechanical clocks were weight driven and, although their verge and foliot mechanisms were difficult to regulate, it would be another 300 years before a new mechanism usurped their popularity.
The first pendulum clock and, it could be said, the "Grandfather of the Grandfather Clock" was developed in 1656 by Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens. His first clock was accurate to within a minute a day, an error that was eventually reduced to within ten seconds a day.
In 1721, George Graham improved the pendulum clock's accuracy to within one second per day. Further developments occurred and by the end of the 19 th century, free pendulum clocks appeared with accuracies of within one hundredth of a second. These new timepieces paved the way for the two-pendulum slave and master mechanism with even greater accuracy and regularity.
The 1920s saw the development of the quartz movement clock, which is based on the quartz crystal's ability to move and vibrate when faced with an electric field. This movement causes the emission of an electric signal, which because of its frequency, is able to power a timepiece and maintain accuracy plus regularity.
Still popular today, the quartz clock is, nevertheless outperformed by the Atomic clock in terms of accuracy.
The atomic clock is the most accurate clock in the world. In fact, not even the earth's rotation can keep time as well as the atomic clock. The atomic clock works by electronically measuring the vibrations of atoms. Atoms vibrate at regular nanosecond intervals and can be measured to an accuracy of within one second per 1,400,000 years! For this reason the atomic clock has largely replaced Greenwich Mean Time as the world clock and global time measurement standard - or UTC. Interestingly, UTC is also referred to as GMT although not actually correct. The difference between UTC and GMT is so small, however, that it is of no real consequence.
Within the home, time measurement can now be standardized to the atomic clock through radio-controlled mechanisms and computer downloads. Even the humble alarm clock and wall clock can be set according to atomic time measurement.
So, whether ensuring never to miss that train again or waiting for the "significant other" to return home, our concept of time has never been more able to be synchronised or measured in the most accurate way possible.
No more excuses! The way to eternal punctuality has been paved by the ingenuity of our forefathers. We needn't even be late for our own demise according to the Death Clock ( www.deathclock.com).
As we move through this millennium, watching years pass as weeks, let us remember the one thing that is constant, regardless of how we view it.
Time.
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