The Development of Clocks in Human History

Quantum Clocks

What if you were in an era that there is no such digital technology? You may have found difficulties in finding what time it is now. With today’s standard, successful people are those who are able to organize their activities, and to do that they need to manage their time in daily basis. However, our global population is not distributed in central area, but it is the opposite, which spread all over the world. Thus, the need of standardized time is required to balance the activities, including in stock market and transportation.

One of the international organisations that are responsible in keeping the correct time is the National Institute of Standards and Technology throughout its atomic clock. However, atomic is thought to be having a drawback due to the precision level. In a study published in Nature, current atomic clock cannot be linked throughout global network, so that they proposed the idea of a global network of atomic clocks linked by the strange science of quantum entanglement. This proposal is still theoretical; however it could have given relatively high impacts to the global clocks. Surprisingly, how we could be in Quantum Clocks? Here the previous clocks

Sundial

Sundial. The sundial, which uses a vertical object like a pillar or cross that casts a shadow to indicate the time of day, is the earliest known timekeeping device, appearing around 3500 BC. The device ultimately proved unreliable since, in addition to inference from pesky clouds and storms, the key component was in the sky only half the day.

Pendulum Clocks

Pendulum Clock. The beginning of pendulum clock was pioneered by Dutch mathematician who is Christiaan Huygens in 1656 throughout his invention, the pendulum clock. This type of clock measured time more reliably than the sundial because it can be used to measure time at the night, but it still had its limitations. The clock’s mechanical parts left its accuracy at the mercy of shifting temperatures, pressures and even Earth’s gravitational pull, since pendulums swing faster at lower altitudes and at Earth’s poles.

Chronometer

Chronometer. In a voyage, time is very important to determine the condition of the sea. As the pendulum cannot be used on the sea due to the altitudes, sailors needed reliable clocks. In particular, a clock that could tell the local land time so they could calculate longitude. Enter English carpenter, John Harrison, whose timepiece could determine longitude within half a degree. His clock, called a chronometer later in the 18th century, which is basically a proto-pocket watch, improved accuracy through balance and spring combinations and kept time within 0.8 seconds per day.

Atomic Clock

Atomic Clock. In 1949, the National Institute of Standards and Technology created the first atomic clock, which determined time by measuring how long certain atomic processes last. In 1967, the second itself was officially defined as 9.2 billion oscillations of microwave radiation emanating from a system of cesium atoms. Today’s updated NIST-F2 model boasts an accuracy of one second across 300 million years.

Quantum Clock

Quantum Clock. The proposed quantum clock network could operate by mounting entangled atomic clocks on global satellites or stationing them at various labs located around Earth. As the clocks are quantum linked, each could almost instantly relay its time to one central node, which would average the times and relay them back. Each clock could thus adjust its accuracy, creating what it is called as superclock. With a clock this accurate, scientists could gather more precise real-time measurements of continental shifts, potentially detecting natural disasters like earthquakes, storm, weather forecasting, and many more.