Timekeeping Devices From Ancient to Modern Times

Since the days of the ancient Sumerians, people have come up with ingenious ways to measure the passage of time. From shadow clocks (also called sundials) to candle clocks, sand clocks (hourglasses) and water clocks, ancient timekeepers were actually very good at tracking time. Within the last 400 years or so, mechanical clocks have been able to keep time very accurately. The designs we still use today for mechanical clocks and watches were first perfected in the mid-1600s.

Innovators were tasked with making clocks which could keep accurate time even when they were used on ships at sea, where the clocks would be subjected to movements which could disrupt the steady, consistent movement of pendulums and other clock components. English inventor John Harrison is credited (in the mid-1700s) with solving the problem of calculating longitude at sea by creating a clock (chronometer) which would remain accurate on a moving ship. Read more about his achievement here... https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/explor...

Our most sophisticated atomic clocks today are also used to help us with our most precise navigation. GPS satellites broadcast time data which can be used by handheld GPS receivers to calculate the users' positions, movement, speed, etc.. When these calculations are merged with map information in real time the results can improve safety, efficiency and convenience for anyone who's operating a moving vehicle or simply going for a hike and/or exercising.

So many wonderful things have transformed life as we know it using innovations in timekeeping to do what was once impossible.