horology

horology, science of measuring time and technology of constructing instruments for its measurement or recording. Early measurements of the passage of time were based on observations of seasonal cycles and of the apparent motion of celestial bodies. Shorter intervals were measured by observing the shadow cast by an upright object; the shadow clock and the sundial were probably the first devices constructed. Later came the hourglass and the clepsydra and finally the clock and the watch. The most accurate type of timekeeping device in existence today is the atomic clock. Highly accurate time, which is necessary for such purposes as navigation and the tracking of artificial satellites, is provided throughout the world by time signals that are transmitted by certain radio stations.

Horology (from Greek ώρα, "hour, time"; and λόγος, logos, "study, speech"; lit. the study of time) is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.

People interested in horology are called horologists. That term is used both by people who deal professionally with timekeeping apparatus (watchmakers, clockmakers), as well as aficionados and scholars of horology. Horology and horologists have numerous organizations, both professional associations and more scholarly societies.

Horological museums and libraries

Horology has a long history and there are many museums and several specialised libraries devoted to the subject. An example is the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which is also the source of the Prime Meridian (longitude 0° 0' 0"), and the home of the first marine timekeepers accurate enough to determine longitude (made by John Harrison). Other horological museums in the London area include the Clockmakers' Museum, and the horological collections at the British Museum, the Science Museum (London) and at the Wallace Collection.

One of the more comprehensive museums dedicated to horology is the Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). The Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle is a bit smaller but located nearby. One of the better horological museums in Germany is the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum. The two leading specialised horological museums in North America are the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut.

Besides museums dedicated only to horology you will often find horological objects in major art museums (including the Metropolitan Museum in New York or the Getty Museum in Los Angeles) or in major museums dealing with the history of science or the history of technology (including the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the London Science Museum or the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris.)

One of the most comprehensive horological libraries open to the public is the National Watch and Clock Library in Columbia, PA (USA). Other good horological libraries providing public access are at the Musée international d'horlogerie in Switzerland, at the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum in Germany, and at the Guildhall Library in London.

Horological organizations

The leading scholarly horological organizations are:

• American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute - AWCI (United States of America)
• Antiquarian Horological Society - AHS (United Kingdom)
• Association Française des Amateurs d'Horlogerie Ancienne - AFAHA (France)
• British Horological Institute - BHI (United Kingdom)
• Chronometrophilia (Switzerland)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie - DGC (Germany)
• HORA Associazione Italiana Cultori di Orologeria Antica (Italy)
• National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - NAWCC (United States of America)

See also

People (Horologists)

• Abraham Louis Bréguet
• Joost Burgi
• Giovanni de Dondi
• Aaron Lufkin Dennison
• Rupert Gould
• John Harrison
• Jens Olsen
• Richard of Wallingford
• Simon Willard
• Kyle O. Schou

Horological Professions

• clockmaker
• timekeeper
• watchmaker

Museums (dedicated to horology)

• American Clock and Watch Museum, Bristol, Connecticut, USA
• British Horological Institute, Upton UK
• Clockmakers' Museum, London, UK
• Deutsches Uhrenmuseum, Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, Germany
• Dorf- und Uhrenmuseum Gütenbach, Gütenbach, Germany
• Museum fũr Uhren und Mechanische Musik, Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland
• Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle, Le Locle, Switzerland
• Musée international d'horlogerie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
• Museum van het NEDERLANDSE UURWERK , Zaandam, The Netherlands
• National Watch and Clock Museum, Columbia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Royal Observatory, Greenwich, UK
• Städtisches Uhrenmuseum,Schulhof Wien, Austria
• Sydney Horological Centre, Sydney, Australia
• Schwäbisches Turmuhrenmuseum Mindelheim, Germany
• Timexpo Museum, Waterbury Connecticut USA
• Uhrenindustriemuseum, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany
• Uhrenmuseum Beyer, Zurich, Switzerland
• Uhrenmuseum zum Rösli, zurich, Switzerland
• Willard House and Clock Museum, Grafton, Massachusetts, USA
• Irish Swiss Institute of Horology, Dublin

Museums (not specialized in horology, but displaying major horological collections)

• Bayrisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, Germany
• Boerhaave Museum, Leiden, Netherlands
• British Museum, London, UK
• Deutsches Museum, Munchen, Germany
• Frick Collection, New York City, USA
• Metropolitan Museum, New York City, USA
• Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France
• Orangerie, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
• Science Museum (London), UK
• Wallace Collection, London, UK
• St Edmundsbury Heritage Service, Bury St Edmunds, UK

Institutions

• American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute, USA
• Antiquarian Horological Society, UK
• British Horological Institute, UK
• Chronometrophilia, Switzerland
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie, Germany
• NAWCC, USA
• National Watch and Clock Library, USA
• Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, Switzerland
• Canadian Horological Society, Canada

Newsgroup

• alt.horology

Others

• System time

External links

• American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute
• BHI - The British Horological Institute
• Horological Portal
• Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH
• Musée d'horlogerie du Locle (Château des Monts)
• Musée International d'Horlogerie
• NAWCC: National Association of Watch & Clocks Collectors (USA)
• Horology Patents
• A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells by Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, 1903, from project Gutenberg
• Application horlogère