The Clock that Reinvented Time

In 1327, a monk named Richard of Wallingford drafted plans for an engineering marvel: one of the very first truly mechanical clocks in the world, which helped to usher in a complete reinvention of humanity's perception of time itself.

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[BenjaminIMeszaros]

Clocks changing our concept of time and trains changing our concept of space are two of the wildest concepts to reflect on for how our experience of being human is so drastically different from 99% of people who have ever lived.

[AurorXZ]

13:05: "time was no longer a measure of a thing, but a thing in-and-of itself" - mind blown!

[judeangione]

So before we officially knew that orbits were elliptical, the inventor figured out that he needed an oval thingy to make it work all through the year. Wow.

[SoupEaterExtraordinaire]

For anyone curious, as far as I can discover the replica is on display at St Albans Cathedral, where they also have a peregrine falcon nest live cam with two eggs right now!

[AceAlbatros]

I do always appreciate that you guys say “gotta keep the lights on, here’s an ad” I love you for it

[Jehayland]

Love the bit about it going over budget. Some things never change 😂

[capnkwick]

During the time when clocks were powered by water, there was also the inconvenient issue that water has a tendency to turn into ice when it gets cold enough.

[GeorgIsm-up]

Glad to see medieval scientists and inventors getting the respect they deserve. The "dark age" narrative has been wildly overblown.

[undefinederror]

Wait, so, a replica was made? Is it at display anywhere? That would be so cool to see

[peterbradburn]

As a born and bred Wallingfordian, knew our boy Richard was going to be the star of this show 😃

[irradiatedbadger]

Been watching scishow for 10+ years, thanks for all the great educational Videos

[tarmaque]

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

[tarmaque]

Since we know that time is variable based on acceleration and velocity, even the most accurate clock is only relevant in a local and relative frame. Hence I use the most accurate time measure available to an individual: The length of time between getting up to pee in the night.

[YT_Man_]

As a clock myself, thank you for making a video about clocks ⏰

[lilmissgearhead]

Fascinating how we’ve imbedded morality into our concept of time!!! Human individuals and our communities will make up just about any story to feel “safe”

[ianslai]

Thank you for an awesome video about the origins of modern western timekeeping! Do note however that not all cultures used unequal hours the same way; starting with the Eastern Han dynasty, the Chinese adopted a system dividing one solar day into 12 equal time units (shi), and using that to tell time during daylight, but at night they used a system that divided the night into 5 parts (geng).

[joshpalacios]

Still loving the add breaks and directly letting us know when and why they happen.
Keep it up!

[marrrtin]

Not clickbait. Fascinating. I would agree that Henry the 8th was perhaps the biggest vandal to English cultural heritage. The clock at Salisbury Cathedral is said to be among the world's oldest functioning clocks.

[Tera_GX]

Since getting rid of Daylight Savings time is a popular topic, it makes me think that maybe the variable hours were actually pretty good. Although we would still need to have arrived at a steady unit of time.

[OOHMF]

It's about time that it's time that time is discussed in a time video ⏳ I'll watch