The Historical Context and Cultural Traditions Which Led to The Development of the Mechanical Clock

The Historical Context and Cultural Traditions Which Led to The Development of the

Mechanical Clock

The history of the mechanical clock can be traced back to the Medieval Period, through

the invention of the striking bell clock in a Monastery by a monk called Gerbert, who later

became Pope Sylvester II (Mumford 12–13). The mechanical clock was a mechanical

improvement to the striking clock because of the invention of the verge and foliot, which helped

develop the weight-driven clock (the mechanical clock). The modern clock has its roots in the

Monastery because of its inherent presence and influence in society during the medieval period

and the Renaissance. The church had established a form of social order. Monasteries housed

nuns, priests, and many other people, both in groups and as hermits, who were required to

perform different tasks collectively and individually throughout the day. The improvement on

the striking clock made it easier to let people know the time and what they were supposed to do.

How the Mechanical Clock Led to the Concept of Artifactual Time

The mechanical clock was an important invention for both timekeeping and the machine

in general, meeting people at their desired point of convenience. The mechanical clock helped

further stratify people’s time, becoming inherently complex because of advancements in science

and technology. Mechanical clocks allowed for the synchronization of durations, through which

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different activities can be achieved. The mechanical clock brought order to, first, the monasteries

and then the society as a whole. People could allocate and be accountable for time spent, which

helped in scholarship and developing more advanced solutions.

This concept of time was passed on to the Renaissance, the predecessor of the modern

era. Time as an infinite and divisible concept helped establish a sense of personal responsibility,

albeit corresponding with society’s increased complexity because of the rise of schools,

governments, transport, and employment that encouraged people to use their time in this fashion.

As one of the first mechanical inventions, the mechanical clock helped institutions and people to

allocate and account for their time, which led to even more inventions and scholarship, a ripple

effect that has improved technologies (timekeeping included), albeit maintaining such a culture

(Álvarez).

How Precision in Accurate Timekeeping Affected Human Behavior in Both Europe and The

Although the mechanical clock was a major improvement to timekeeping, working well

for monasteries and surrounding communities, it struggled with reliability and precision for very

many years. However, as already stated, the cultural revolution that came after the invention of

the mechanical clock helped develop a personal sense of duty and responsibility, which allowed

people to delve deeper into scholarship and innovation (Bradbury and Collette). The invention of

the pendulum was a major improvement in the operation of the mechanical clock, improving on

its failures in terms of precision in timekeeping. Precision was achieved in the pendulum clock

because it took the exact amount of time to move from one side to the other, creating the most

uniform timekeeping device.