No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
Christiaan Huygens built his first pendulum clock in 1656 and patented it in 1657.
About credit
Galileo studied pendulums and, according to his biographer Viviani, planned a clock, but Huygens built and patented the first successful one.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before the Pendulum Clock
Mechanical clocks lost or gained a quarter of an hour or more a day.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Huygens used a pendulum to control the escapement. A pendulum swings at a steady rate set by its length, so each swing becomes one tick. His clocks erred by under a minute a day, soon dropping to seconds.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
The Pendulum Clock, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
A natural rhythm
For small swings, a pendulum takes nearly the same time per swing whatever the swing size.
A natural rhythm
The escapement
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Science
Measuring small time intervals became possible.
Daily life
Public clocks became reliable enough to set timetables.
Accurate time allowed precise scientific experiments and, with it, better astronomy and navigation on land.
V
Before and after
Life before and after The Pendulum Clock
Before
Different towns disagreed by quarter-hours.
After
Clocks agreed to within a minute.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.