Horology (; related to
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
'; ; ,
interfix
In phonology, an interfix or (more commonly) linking element is a part of a word that is placed between two morphemes (such as two roots or a root and a suffix) and lacks a semantic meaning.
Examples
Formation of compound words
In German, ...
''-o-'', and suffix ''
-logy'')
[, .] is the study of the measurement of
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
.
Clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
s,
watches
A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...
,
clockwork
Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight.
A clockwork mec ...
,
sundials,
hourglasses,
clepsydras,
timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock used for measuring specific time intervals.
Timers can be categorized into two main types.
The word "timer" is usually reserved for devices that counts down from a specified time interval, while devices th ...
s,
time recorders,
marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the modern ...
s, and
atomic clock
An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betwe ...
s are all examples of
instruments used to measure
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
. In current usage, horology refers mainly to the study of mechanical time-keeping devices, while
chronometry more broadly includes electronic devices that have largely supplanted mechanical clocks for the best accuracy and precision in time-keeping.
People interested in horology are called ''horologists''. That term is used both by people who deal professionally with timekeeping apparatuses (watchmakers, clockmakers), as well as
aficionados
A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a vid ...
and scholars of horology. Horology and horologists have numerous organizations, both professional associations and more scholarly societies. The largest horological membership organisation globally is the NAWCC, the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, which is USA based, but also has local chapters elsewhere.
History
Museums and libraries
In Europe
There are many horology museums and several specialized libraries devoted to the subject. One example is the
Royal Greenwich Observatory, which is also the source of the
Prime Meridian
A prime meridian is an arbitrary meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Together, a prime meridian and its anti-meridian (the 180th meridian in a 360°-system) form a great ...
(
longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
0° 0' 0"), and the home of the first marine timekeepers accurate enough to determine longitude (made by
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea.
Harrison's solution revol ...
). Other horological museums in the London area include the
Clockmakers' Museum
The Clockmakers’ Museum in London, England, is believed to be the oldest collection specifically of clocks and watches in the world. The collection belongs to and is administered by the Clockmakers’ Charity, affiliated to the Worshipful Com ...
, which re-opened at the Science Museum in October 2015, the horological collections at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, the
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded ...
, and the
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along ...
. The
Guildhall Library
The Guildhall Library is a public reference library specialising in subjects relevant to London. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England.
The library ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
contains an extensive public collection on horology. In Upton, also in the United Kingdom, at the headquarters of the
British Horological Institute
The British Horological Institute (BHI) is the representative body of the horological industry in the United Kingdom. It was founded by a group of clockmakers in 1858, and has its current premises at Upton Hall in Nottinghamshire, which include ...
, there is the Museum of Timekeeping. A more specialised museum of horology in the United Kingdom is the
Cuckooland Museum
The Cuckooland Museum, previously known as the ''Cuckoo Clock Museum'', is a museum that exhibits mainly cuckoo clocks, located in Tabley, Cheshire, England. The collection comprises 300 years of cuckoo clock-making history, since the very earlie ...
in
Cheshire, which hosts the world's largest collection of antique
cuckoo clock
A cuckoo clock is, typically, a pendulum clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and open and close their beaks while leaning forwards ...
s.
One of the more comprehensive museums dedicated to horology is the
Musée international d'horlogerie, in
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city l ...
in Switzerland, which contains a public library of horology. The
Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle
The Watch Museum of Le Locle (French language, French: Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle) is a municipal museum specializing in horology, located in Le Locle, Canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It is open to the public.
The museum is located in a smal ...
is smaller but located nearby. Other good horological libraries providing public access are at the
Musée international d'horlogerie in Switzerland, at
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city l ...
, and at
Le Locle
Le Locle (; german: Luggli) is a municipality in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
It is the third smallest city in Switzerland (in Switzerland ...
.
In France,
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...
has the Musée du Temps (Museum of Time) in the historic Palais Grenvelle. In
Serpa
Serpa () is a city and a Concelho (municipality) in the central Portuguese region Alentejo. The population in 2011 was 15,623, in an area of . The Guadiana River flows close to the town of Serpa.
History
Serpa has its origins in early settle ...
and
Évora
Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District.
Due to its well-preserved old ...
, in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, there is the Museu do Relógio. In Germany, there is the
Deutsches Uhrenmuseum The German Clock Museum (german: Deutsches Uhrenmuseum) is situated near the centre of the Black Forest town of Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (Germany), a historical centre of clockmaking. It features permanent and temporary exhibits on the history of t ...
in
Furtwangen im Schwarzwald
Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (; Low Alemannic: ''Furtwange im Schwarzwald'') is a small city located in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany. Together with Villingen-Schwenningen, Furtwangen is part of the district (German: Kreis) of Sch ...
, in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, which contains a public library of horology.
In North America
The two leading specialised horological museums in North America are the
National Watch and Clock Museum
The National Watch and Clock Museum (NWCM), located in Columbia, Pennsylvania, is one of a very few museums in the United States dedicated solely to horology, which is the history, science and art of timekeeping and timekeepers.
Like its subsidiar ...
in
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...
, and the
American Clock and Watch Museum in
Bristol, Connecticut
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...
. Another museum dedicated to clocks is the
Willard House and Clock Museum in
Grafton, Massachusetts
Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,664 at the 2020 census. The town consists of the North Grafton, Grafton, and South Grafton geographic areas, each with a separate ZIP Code. Incorporated in ...
. One of the most comprehensive horological libraries open to the public is the
National Watch and Clock Library in
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...
.
Organizations
Notable scholarly horological organizations include:
*
American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute – AWCI (United States of America)
*
Antiquarian Horological Society The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In earl ...
– AHS (United Kingdom)
*
British Horological Institute
The British Horological Institute (BHI) is the representative body of the horological industry in the United Kingdom. It was founded by a group of clockmakers in 1858, and has its current premises at Upton Hall in Nottinghamshire, which include ...
– BHI (United Kingdom)
*
Chronometrophilia Chronometrophilia is described in its byline as the "Swiss Association for the History of Timekeeping / Association suisse pour l'histoire de la mesure du temps / Schweizerische Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Zeitmessung". It is a group of co ...
(Switzerland)
*
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie (DGC), (German Society for Timekeeping) today is an organization of scholars, collectors and enthusiasts in Germany interested in the science, art and history of horology.
History
The association was founded ...
– DGC (Germany)
Horological Society of New York– HSNY (United States of America)
*
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors
The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc. (NAWCC) is a nonprofit association of people who share a passion for collecting watches and clocks and studying horology (the art and science of time and timekeeping). The NAWCC's global m ...
– NAWCC (United States of America)
UK Horology- UK Clock & Watch Company based in Bristol
World exhibitions
* Geneva Time Exhibition
* Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH)
Glossary
See also
Dictionary of Horology
References
Further reading
*
* Perman, Stacy
''A Grand Complication: The Race to Build the World's Most Legendary Watch'' Atria Books (Simon & Schuster), February 2013.
* Berner, G.A.
''Illustrated Professional Dictionary of Horology'' Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH 1961 - 2012
* Daniels, George
''Watchmaking'' London: Philip Wilson Publishers, 1981 (reprinted June 15, 2011)
*
Beckett, Edmund''A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells'' 1903, from
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...
* Grafton, Edward
''Horology, a popular sketch of clock and watch making'' London: Aylett and Jones, 1849
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Timekeeping