History

The topic of Bible Clocks brings up many questions about how clocks have worked across history. Could, say, New Testament authors have had access to mechanical clocks? How might they have been built?

The practice of telling time has also changed considerably since NT times. Some of those changes must be understood so they can be undone for various important setups involving advanced uses of Bible Clocks.

Here is the list of articles in this section.

  • Antikythera Mechanism

    The oldest mechanical device ever found is called the Antikythera Mechanism. The complexity and high function in this device establishes that the Greeks were well advanced as mechanical time keepers. (919 words)

  • Greek Water Clock

    The ancient world is well known to have used the flow of water to tell time. This is much less technical than geared machines. There are various issues with using water to tell time. (477 words)

  • Horologium

    Public clock towers were also known in the ancient world. The oldest still standing example is in Athens. This ancient stone structure once housed a water clock. This example establishes that the public cared about and used accurate time keeping. (445 words)

  • Setting Sundials

    Clocks are usually set to agree with other clocks. Ultimately all time keeping is set by reference to the position of the sun in the sky. This was done in ancient times using sundials. (2,585 words)

  • Pendulum Clocks

    Modern clocks begin with Galileo's discovery of the time keeping qualities of the pendulum. Christiaan Huygens was later able harness the pendulum to the gear trains of mechanical clocks. With these 2 inventors the era of modern, accurate, mechanical clocks began. (741 words)

  • Astronomy

    The needs of modern Astronomers drove the modern clock making industry. Those needs demanded that they use clocks that measured time from noon. Astronomer's clocks eventually leaked out into popular use, replacing the O'Day system used previously. This article explores the reasons for the change. (901 words)

  • Davos Clock

    Davos Clock is the name given by curators at the British Museum to a specific clock in their collection. This is a good example of early modern wood clock making. (404 words)

  • Mean Time

    Sundials track time based on direct movement of the sun. The lengths of days measured this way differs slightly from day to day. Sundials are not accurate enough to detect this. But, high quality pendulum based mechanical clocks, and the science that used them, needed day lengths that were the same. (918 words)

  • Greenwich Observatory

    Time keeping eventually advanced to the point where clocks needed to be synchronized with each other. Greenwich observatory eventually won out as that synchronization point. (658 words)

  • Harrison Clock

    The Harrison clock was perhaps the most important mechanical clock ever made. It flipped the use of clocks from telling time to telling location. The principles are still used in modern GPS systems. (877 words)

  • Time Zones

    Modern clocks are not set to the sun in the sky. Instead they are set against the current time of the current time zone. This abandoned the use of a local reference clock in favor of a regional clock. Effects of local time zones may need to be undone when setting up Bible Clocks for some uses. (1,110 words)

  • International Date Line

    The International Date Line is the other side of the world from to the Prime Meridian. It has peculiar qualities related to the calendar. (853 words)

  • AC Electric Clocks

    After the development of the modern power grid, clocks could be synchronized through power lines. Before quartz movements, this was perhaps the most accurate type of common clock. (708 words)