The Science Of Clocks And Watches

Upton Hall, Upton, Newark, Notts. NG23 5TE.

"The Mechanics of Mechanical Watches and Clocks" presents historical views and mathematical models of mechanical watches and clocks. Although now over six hundred years old, mechanical watches and clocks are still popular luxury items that fascinate many people around the world. However few have examined the theory of how they work as presented in this book. The illustrations and computer animations are unique and have never been published before. It will be of significant interest to researchers in mechanical engineering, watchmakers and clockmakers, as well as people who have an engineering background and are interested in mechanical watches and clocks. It will also inspire people in other fields of science and technology, such as mechanical engineering and electronics engineering, to advance their designs. Professor Ruxu Du works at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China. Assistant Professor Longhan Xie works at the South China University of Technology, China.

This book is a lucid and authoritative catalog of man's obsession with time and timepieces. Hundreds of full-color and black-and-white illustrations compliment intricate line drawings that illuminate the inner workings of these devices.

The measurement of time was one of man's earliest obsessions, and the desire for ever greater precision in time-keeping has inspired generations in the fields of mathematics and science. Equally, each advance has produced accompanying works of great craftsmanship that have turned objects of sober function into things of outstanding beauty. Eric Bruton traces the path of this development from the simple shepherd's dial made of clay, through the rush of horological activity that followed the invention of the pendulum in the mid-seventeenth century, to the perfection escapement developments that form the basic principles of the complex electronic circuitry of our clocks and watches today. Combining specially commissioned line drawings, magnificent colour illustrations and a lucid, authoritative text, this book offers the reader a wonderful catalogue of man's achievement in the fields of science and art.

In Marking Modern Times, Alexis McCrossen relates how the American preoccupation with time led people from across social classes to acquire watches and clocks, and expands our understanding of the ways we have standardized time and have made timekeepers serve as political, social, and cultural tools in a society that not merely values time, but regards access to it as a natural-born right.

The measurement of time was one of man's earliest obsessions, and the desire for ever greater precision in time-keeping has inspired generations in the fields of mathematics and science. Equally, each advance has produced accompanying works of great craftsmanship that have turned objects of sober function into things of outstanding beauty. Eric Bruton traces the path of this development from the simple shepherd's dial made of clay, through the rush of horological activity that followed the invention of the pendulum in the mid-seventeenth century, to the perfection escapement developments that form the basic principles of the complex electronic circuitry of our clocks and watches today. Combining specially commissioned line drawings, magnificent colour illustrations and a lucid, authoritative text, this book offers the reader a wonderful catalogue of man's achievement in the fields of science and art.