The earliest clocks were simply ways of keeping track of
time using the elements. The sundial did this, as well as a clock
created in ancient Greece often ascribed to Plato, that used water
dripping from a bowl. The Romans later took this clock and claimed it
for their own, calling it a Horologium.

The first mechanical clocks were run using the falling of
weights. When they started to become mechanical, they were called
Clockes, Latin for bell. This was because they kept time by sounding a
bell at the hour. When they invented a clock that could tell time
visually, they named it a watch. This is an obvious pun on the word
watch, both in its “to see” meaning, and in its meaning for sentries
such as in “Ill take first watch”. In the early days when a watch was
made that also chimed, it was called as clock-watch.

The next big improvement in the clock was the creation of what
is known as average escapement. This was a device that allowed equal
distribution of the force in a clock, allowing them to keep time
accurately. Most early clocks were large and expensive, due to the
precision hand crafting that went into them. It wasn’t until the
seventeenth century that clocks started to be seen in homes, mainly in
Britain.

The first household clocks were known as chamber clocks. These
were generally hung from a wall, with weights dangling from the bottom.
The weights were used to keep the hours. Most of these clocks only had
an hour hand, and the earliest ones would run for little more then ten
hours. As the system of force distribution, was improved on these
clocks became smaller and better designed. The invention of the
pendulum in 1658 made these clocks much more reliable, and easier to
manufacture. This is shown in the long case clock, invented to house
the pendulum.

The next few years saw many improvements on the pendulum as
they made it longer and more accurate. The invention of spring clocks
was a major improvement to the clock industry. At first the springs
caused these clocks to go faster right after they were wound, and then
gradually slower and slower. This problem was solved in small parts
over the next 300 years, as the making and application of the springs
got better and better.

The modern clock is often an electric machine that runs much
more accurately then the old water driven Greek clocks. However they
are still not perfect. Trying to attain precision timing has caused
people to look to quasar timing, timing by the pulses in a pulsar star.
There are also clocks that measure the spin of electrons, or sun spots.
Future innovations may make clocks even more accurate in ways we
haven’t even thought of. It’s an exciting time in clock design and
fabrication.