A General History of Horology

by Turner, Anthony; Nye, James; Betts, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780198863915
• ISBN10: 0198863918
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2022-09-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Anthony Turner, Chairman, Antiquarian Horological Society, James Nye, Curator Emeritus, Royal Museums Greenwich, Jonathan Betts, Independent scholar

Anthony Turner works primarily on the history of scientific instruments, clocks, watches and related items in their technical and social contexts during the Early Modern period. As consultant he collaborates with leading museums and auction houses and has been responsible for the organisation of several international exhibitions.

James Nye studied Theology at Oxford, and later completed a PhD in Financial History at Kings College London. His thesis included case studies of early electric clock companies, reflecting a lifelong involvement in horology, especially in the electrical arena. From practical bench work on clocks as a teenager, his career progressed to researching and writing on the history of time measurement. A continuing theme in his ongoing work is the emergence of distributed accurate timekeeping from the late nineteenth century onwards. James is chair of the Antiquarian Horology Society, and founder and principal sponsor of London's Clockworks Museum.

Jonathan Betts, a professional horologist all his life, was Senior Conservator and then Senior Curator of Horology at Royal Museums Greenwich for 35 years, and remains a Curator Emeritus. He is also Horological Adviser to a number of heritage bodies including the National Trust. He is Vice Chair and Honorary Librarian of the Antiquarian Horological Society.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Horology: The word
Hour Systems
1. Time measurement in Antiquity, Jérôme Bonnin
2. India and the Far East: dials, water-clocks, fire-clocks
India, S. R. Sarma
China to 1900, David Chang
Modern China, Ron Good, Jon Ward
Japan, Katsuhiro Sasaki
3. Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Sun-dials and water-clocks in Byzantium and Islam, Anthony Turner
Time-reckoning in the Medieval Latin world, Mario Arnaldi
Water-clocks and the earliest escapements, Sebastian Whitestone
Sand-clocks, sand-glasses, and fire-clocks, Anthony Turner
4. Public clocks: fourteenth to eighteenth centuries, Marisa Addomine
5. The domestic clock in Europe
From the fifteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century, Dietrich Matthes
From Huygens to the end of the eighteenth century., Wim van Klaveren
6. Watches in Europe 1600 - 1800, David Thompson
7. The Structures of horological manufacture and trade: sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, Anthony Turner
8. The development of the sundial fourteenth to twentieth centuries, Denis Savoie
9. Clocks as astronomical models
Planetary clocks to the end of the eighteenth century, Karsten Gaulk, Michael Korey, Samuel Gessner
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries., Denis Roegel
10. Musical and automaton clocks and watches: sound and motion in time-telling devices, Sharon Kerman
11. The quest for precision in astronomy and navigation, Jonathan Betts
12. Decimal Time, Anthony Turner
13. Industrial manufacture: clock and watch-making in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
The mixed fortunes of Britain, James Nye
American horology and its global reach, Michael Edidin
The horological endeavour in France, Joëlle Mauerhan
The challenge of the Swiss and their competitors, Johann Boilat
Developing the German industry, Sibylle Gluch
A case-study in standardisation: la pendule de Paris, Françoise Collanges
14. Precision attained: chronometers and regulators in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Jonathan Betts
15. Responding to customer demand: the decoration of clocks and watches from the Renaissance to recent times, Catherine Cardinal
16. Eighteenth-century clock exports from Britain to the East Indies, Roger Smith
17. Public clocks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Marisa Addomine
18. Wrist-watches from their origins to the twenty-first century, David Boettcher
19. Electricity, horology, and networked time, James Nye, David Rooney
20. Women in horology, Joëlle Mauerhan
21. The keeping of clocks and watches: maintenance, repair and restoration, Jonathan Betts
22. Accessories in horology, Estelle Fallet
23. Applications of clockwork
Orreries and planetaria, Jim Bennett, Anthony Turner
Timers and telescope drives, Paolo Brenni
Metronomes, Anthony Turner
Car clocks, James Nye
Watchmans' clocks, Jonathan Betts
Roasting jacks, Anthony Turner
24. Horology verbalised; horology visualised, Christina Faraday
25. The Literature of horology, Bernhard Huber
26. Collecting and writing the history of horology, Anthony Turner
27. Glossary
28. Bibliography
Index