Clocks

Clocks is a device or instrument which is

used to measure time, but before the first
mechanical clocks were invented people
used so called “clocks” which were based
on movement in nature. For a example,
sundial and water clocks may be the oldest
time measuring instruments. Clocks are
used to measure intervals of time, shorter
than days, months and years.
A major advance happened when the verge
escapement was invented, the mechanism
in a mechanical clock that controls its rate.
After this invention, the first mechanical
clocks were made possible around 1300 in
Europe. When later an instrument without
a striking mechanism was invented, it
became known as a timepiece.
During the 15th century appeared spring-
driven clocks, and later in the 15th and 16th
centuries clockmaking flourished. The next
development in accuracy of clocks occurred
after 1656 when pendulum clock was
invented. The importance for precise time-
keeping for navigation played a role in
improving the accuracy and reliability of
clocks. In 1840 the first electric clock was
patented but they were not widely
manufactured until mains electric power
became available in 1890s. In the 1930s the
synchronous electric clock replaced
mechanical clocks as the most widely used
type of clock.
Different clocks display time in different
ways, analog clocks usually indicate time
using angles, digital clocks display time
using numbers. Usually two numeric display
formats including 12-hour notation and 24-
hour notation are used on digital clocks.
Most digital clocks use electronic
mechanisms and LCD, LED, or VFD displays.
For convenience, distance, telephony or
blindness, auditory clocks present the time
as sounds. There are also clocks for the
blind that have displays that can be read by
using the sense of touch.
Then, there’s also another type of clock in
this world, the atomic clock. The first
atomic clock was developed by Harold
Lyons at the National Bureau of Standards.
It revolutionized timekeeping by using
transitions of the ammonia molecule as its
source of frequency. Atomic clocks being far
more accurate than other ones, quickly
replaced the Earth’s rotational rate as the
reference for the world time. Atomic clock
accuracy made a lot of new technologies
possible, including Global Positioning
System or GPS. Some other types of clocks
include watches, alarm clocks, and
stopwatches. A stopwatch is a handheld
timepiece used to measure speed or
duration of something in fractions of a
second or minutes. The first stopwatch was
invented in 1821 by Nicolas Mathieu
Rieussec of France for King Louis XVIII. A
watch is a timepiece designed for a person
to wear on their hand, and for it to keep
working despite the motion of a person.
Watches progressed in the 17th century
from spring-powered clocks, which first
appeared as early as the 14th century. An
alarm clock is a clock which was made or
designed to alert at specified time. Usually
these clocks are used by people to wake
them up in the morning or serve as
reminders for something else. Most use
sound but there are some which use
vibration or light. Nowadays alarms are very
commonly used so you can find on your
computer, phone and watches.