Prompt Cast
The Evolution of Timekeeping: From Sundials to Atomic Clocks
TLDR The history of timekeeping traces the development of various methods, from sundials to water clocks, candles, and eventually clocks with hands. The invention of portable clocks powered by springs revolutionized timekeeping, leading to the rise of watches. Today, atomic clocks and GPS clocks ensure highly accurate time measurement and synchronization globally.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Our ability to measure time has evolved from crude and inexact methods to highly accurate measurements that have allowed us to navigate and get directions, and this episode explores the history of timekeeping.
01:57
The first real system of keeping time was the sundial, but it had several drawbacks, leading to the development of candles and water clocks as alternative timekeeping devices.
03:38
The invention of the escapement allowed for the development of true clocks with hands that could tell time, changing timekeeping from something continuous to something repetitive and oscillary.
05:17
The invention of portable clocks powered by springs, such as those created by John Harrison, allowed for accurate timekeeping on ships and helped solve the problem of determining longitude at sea.
06:58
The invention of portable clocks powered by springs led to the rise of watches, with Switzerland becoming a major center for watchmaking in the 19th century.
08:38
Quartz clocks and watches became available in the late 1960s and were cheaper and more accurate than mechanical clocks, and atomic clocks, which are insanely accurate, work by counting the oscillations in atoms and have become the standard for measuring time.
10:39
GPS clocks are crucial for the accuracy and functioning of the GPS system, and they also serve as a universal clock for the entire Earth, allowing for synchronization of time globally.
