Mechanical Clocks are the next step in the evolution of clocks. As promised in the previous article, Ill try and keep it as simple and enjoyable as possible. In order to do this, I will stop flapping my jaws and start writing...so here we go.

People have not been very happy with the water clock measurements and tried to invent something more accurate than that. They twisted and turned their minds and came out with the all-mechanical clock. The idea behind the mechanical clock was to measure hours of equal length all year round.

Around 1300, large mechanical clocks started to appear on public buildings in Italy. The clock was operated by the gravitational pull of weights which turned a set of gears and wheels. All this mechanism moved a hand that pointed the hour.

Around 1400, similar clocks were built into towers all over Europe. A famous mechanical clock is the one on the City Hall in Prague, Czech Republic. It consists of three parts the procession of Apostles, the astronomical clock and the calendar. The main attraction is the hourly procession of the 12 Apostles.

Please do me a favor and check the internet for "Czech Rep., Prague astronomical clock" - it's impressive.

Around 1500, a German invented a clock that replaced the weight driven mechanical clock with a spring driven one. A spring inside the clock would unwind and move the clock wheels and gears. Even though they were not very accurate - as the springs did not unwind at a constant rate they were the first small clocks and from there people started making clocks to be placed on shelves and tables and they also started making watches.

Galileo Galilei is credited with inventing the pendulum-clock concept. He studied the motion of the pendulum and discovered that the time it takes a pendulum to move from one side to the other is always the same. He even sketched out a design for a pendulum clock, but he never actually constructed one before his death in 1642.

This honor went to a Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens who was the one to make the first pendulum clock based on Galileos discovery. Later on, it was discovered by the English, that the longer the pendulum, the more accurate the time reading. The pendulum and the clock mechanisms were placed in wooden cabinets, so their movement would not be affected by the air currents. We call this type of clock grandfather clock.

The grandfather clock was the first clock to have a minute hand and an hour hand.

The End.

Ill conclude my trip through the history of clocks with the atomic clocks and quartz clocks.

And, after that, I will write aboutI dont know yet. Ill surprise you with a new topic time related of course.

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