Course Outline

Since ancient times people have developed ever more accurate clocks and timekeeping devices. What are these and how do they work? Why do we need increasingly accurate timekeeping? How has increasingly accurate timekeeping affected our daily lives?

This course aims to explore the history and development of timekeeping. Part of the course material will cover basic ideas about the workings of these devices and the physics and science involved. This will include assessing the type of accuracy needed to use timekeeping devices to accomplish tasks effectively. The course material will also describe the context behind timekeeping. This includes perhaps unexpected diversity of contexts such as the arranging the day in medieval monasteries, early industrial activity in Europe during the Middle Ages, trans-Atlantic navigation, railroads in the 19th century and modern GPS.

The course will cover the following topics subject to minor modifications.

  1. Astronomical timekeeping.
  2. Timekeeping in ancient and medieval times: sundials and water clocks.
  3. Mechanical clocks.
  4. Clocks and navigation.
  5. Standardizing time.
  6. Electronic clocks.
  7. Atomic clocks.
  8. Demands for and uses of precision timekeeping in society.

Homework Assignments

Due: 28 August 2020 Homework 1
Due: 4 September 2020 Homework 2
Due: 11 September 2020 Homework 3
Due: 25 September 2020 Homework 4
Due: 2 October 2020 Homework 5
Due: 16 October 2020 Homework 6
Due: 23 October 2020 Homework 7
Due: 6 November 2020 Homework 8
Due: 13 November 2020 Homework 9

Papers

There three research papers due on the following dates: Friday 18 September 2020, Friday 9 October 2020 and Friday 30 October 2020. There will a term paper whose first draft is due on Friday 20 November 2020 and whose final draft is due on Friday 4 December 2020.

Supplementary Reading

Texts about time, clocks and timekeeping cpan a wide variety of topics and styles.

  1. Timekeeping

    1. D. S. Landes, Revolution in Time, Harvard University Press (1983).

      Detailed description of the history of timekeeping. Written in an academic history style. Probably requires some knowledge of various historical eras.

    2. C. M. Cippola, Clocks and Culture, Norton (1978).

      Readable coverage of the history of timekeeping during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Too bad it stops at 1700!

    3. D. D. McCarthy and P. K. Seidelmann, Time: From Earth Rotation to Atomic Physics, Cambridge University Press (2018).

      I have not been able to see this text. Appears to cover the physical workings of clocks.

  2. Timekeeping and Physics

    1. C. A. Pickover, Time: A Traveller's Guide, Oxford University Press (1998).

      The physics of time from a relativity perspective. Time and spce in physics are connected in very counterintuitive ways. Will require the ability to digest basic physics.

  3. Time and People

    1. K. K. Birth, Objects of Time, Palgrave Macmillan (2012).

      How we understand time from the perspective of psychology and culture.

Links and Animations

  1. Timekeeping
    1. A Walk Through Time - The Evolution of Time Measurement Through the Ages. From the National Institute of Standards and Time (NIST).
    2. The Physics of Time Keeping. From Justin Cannon, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
    3. Clock and Watch History. From History of Watch.
    4. Time and Navigation. From the Smithsonian Museum.
    5. On Time. From the National Museum of American History
    6. Second. Website about the definition of the second. From NIST.
    7. Find out more about the watch industry. From the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
    8. Timepiece Knowledge. From the Seiko Museum.
  2. Examples of Precision Timekeeping
    1. Close Finishes in the 2018 Winter Olympics. From NBC Sports.
    2. Close Finishes in Bobsleigh Races. From IBSF Bobsleigh and Skeleton.
    3. Million Dollar Microsecond. From RadioLab, 4 Feb 2013.
  3. Astronomical Methods of Keeping Time
    1. Earth's Motion. YouTube video from LittleOrisek1.
    2. Motions of the Sun Lab. From University of Nebraska.
    3. Rotating Sky Lab. From University of Nebraska.
  4. Sundials
    1. Sundial Animation. From Daniel Douch, Wanganui Park Secondary College.
    2. Time Lapse Sundial. Video by NatureClip.
    3. Sundial Animated. Animation of a portable sundial. From History of Science Museum, University of Oxford.
    4. Animated Shadows on Virtual Stone. From New York University.
    5. The British Sundial Society. Many descriptions of how sundials work plus their history.
    6. Short History of Sundials. From EAAE.
    7. History of Sundials. From Border Sundials.
    8. The Virtual Dial. Very detailed animation. From Queens' College, Cambridge.
  5. Water Clocks
    1. Clepsydra of Ctesibius. From Marty Jopson.
    2. Homemade Clepsydra. From Ian McInnes.
    3. Water Clock Animation. From the History of Physics website.
    4. Water Clock History. From Daniel Mintz, University of St. Andrews.
    5. Royal Gorge Water Clock. Apparently the only water clock of this type in Colorado.
    6. Gishodo Watch Clock Museum. Features a replica of Su Song's clock. In Nagano prefecture, Japan.
  6. Verge and Foliot Clocks
    1. Wooden Verge and Foliot Clock. Constructed by Brain Law.
    2. Medieval Verge and Foliot Clock. Reconstruction of a Danish medieval clock. Video from Collin Gribbons.
    3. Verge and Foliot Animation. By Ken Kuo.
    4. Salisbury Cathedral Clock. YouTube video.
    5. Chioggia Clock Tower. Italy. From ArteChioggia.
  7. Spring Clocks
    1. How a Watch Works. YouTube video showing a mainspring watch.
    2. How a Watch Works 1949. Video from Hamilton Watch Company.
  8. Pendulum Clocks
    1. Huygens' Pendulum Clock. Wikimedia image.
    2. Replica Huygens' Pendulum Clock. YouTube video by Jacques Favre.
    3. How Tower Clocks Work. YouTube video from Trevor Murphy.
    4. Tower Clock: Anchor Escapement and Pendulum. YouTube video from Trevor Murphy.
    5. Shortt Clock. From Wikipedia.
    6. Shortt Clock. From NIST.
    7. Shortt Clock. From Royal Museums Geneva
  9. Balance Wheel Clocks
    1. Wooden Balance Wheel Clock. YouTube video.
    2. Balance Wheel and Spring Clock. YouTube video from Brian Law.
  10. Navigation and Longitude
    1. Latitude and Longitude. From Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
    2. Latitude and Longitude. From timeanddate.com.
    3. Latitude and Longitude Map. From Maps of World.
    4. Portolan Chart by Pietro Vesconte. From the British Library.
    5. The Ages of Exploration. From the Mariners' Museum and Park.
    6. Cook's Three Voyages of Exploration. From the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
    7. Royal Museums Greenwich. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    8. Celebration of the English Watch Part II. From Sothebys.
    9. Harrison's Longitude Clocks. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    10. Harrison's H1 Clock. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    11. Harrison's H2 Clock. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    12. Harrison's H3 Clock. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    13. Harrison's H4 Clock. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
  11. Standardization of Time
    1. Mail Coaches. From The Postal Museum, United Kingdom.
    2. Postal Route Maps. From The Postal Museum, United Kingdom.
    3. Mail Coach Guard Timepiece. From The Royal Mail, United Kingdom.
    4. The National Railway Museum. United Kingdom.
    5. Stephenson's Rocket. The National Railway Museum, United Kingdom.
    6. Drake's Map of the Grand Junction Railway. Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
    7. The Corn Exchange Clock, Bristol. From Atlas Obscura.
    8. Riding the Rails. History of Rail in the US.
    9. Comparative Timetable. From the National Museum of American History.
    10. Synchronzing Time. From the National Museum of American History.
    11. Greenwich Time Ball. From the Royal Museum of Greenwich.
    12. Greenwich Time Ball Dropping. Youtube video.
    13. Time Ball, USNO. From APOD.
  12. Electronic Clocks
    1. How a Quartz Watch Works. Youtube video by Steve Mould.
    2. Quartz Versus Mechanical Watches. Youtube video by Teddy Baldessarre.
    3. Piezoelectricity. Youtube video by Steve Mould.
    4. How to Squeeze Electricity out of Crystals. Youtube video by TED-Ed.
    5. Resonance. Animation from PhET.
    6. Quartz Clocks and Watches. From ExplainThatStuff.
    7. Quartz Clocks Innards. From Marty Jopson.
    8. Greenwich Time Signal. From Wikipedia.
    9. USNO Quartz Clock. From the Museum of American History.
    10. USNO Quartz Clock. From the Museum of American History.
    11. Seiko Astron. From Seiko.
  13. Atomic Clocks
    1. Magnets and Electromagnetics. From PhET.
    2. Faraday's Law. From PhET.
    3. Charges and Fields. From PhET.
    4. Waves on a String. From PhET.
    5. The Electromagnetic Spectrum. From NASA.
    6. Rutherford Scattering. From PhET.
    7. Models of the Hydrogen Atom. From PhET.
    8. NIST F1 Atomic Clock. From NIST.
    9. NIST F2 Atomic Clock. From NIST.
    10. How an Atomic Clock Works. YouTube video from engineerguy.
    11. Cesium Clocks. YouTube video from CuriousMark.
    12. Louis Essen. From the National Physical Laboratory (UK).
    13. Applications for Atomic Clocks. From SPIE.
    14. The Atomic Clock from Concept to Commercial Product. From IEEE.
    15. Atomic Clock Markets. From Research and Markets.
    16. NASA Deep Space Atomic Clock. From NASA.
    17. Fountain Clock Keeps Good Time. From APS Physics.
    18. Hubble Space Telescope. From NASA.
    19. Event Horizon Telescope. From NASA.
    20. ESO Black Hole Page. From ESO.
    21. Radar and the Doppler Effect. From Robert Slade.
    22. How LORAN Works. From US Space Force.
    23. How GPS Works. From sciBRIGHT.
    24. How GPS Works. From Casual Navigation.
    25. How GPS Works. From US Space Force.