Myths about clocks and clockwork
Eight common ideas, checked against the sources.
How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. Where good sources disagree, we show each version in a “Sources differ” box.
MythGalileo invented the pendulum clock.
FactNIST says Galileo was studying the pendulum as early as 1582, and sketched a pendulum clock but never built one before he died in 1642. NIST Some authorities credit Galileo with the pendulum clock and others Huygens. Britannica
MythA heavier pendulum keeps slower time.
FactA heavier bob does not change the period, as long as the length stays the same. Britannica
MythMedieval clocks were wonderfully accurate.
FactThese early clocks may have been out by as much as half an hour a day. Britannica Their weak point: how fast they swung depended heavily on the driving force and on friction. NIST
MythThe oldest clock in the world is in Salisbury.
FactThe oldest surviving clock in England is at Salisbury Cathedral, from 1386. Britannica Britannica names the oldest known mechanical clock as one added to Dunstable Priory in Bedfordshire in 1283, which had no face. Britannica
MythHarrison was paid the whole prize by the Board of Longitude.
FactHarrison was finally rewarded by Parliament, not by the Board of Longitude, and never got all he felt he was owed. RMG Royal Museums Greenwich says the Board recommended only half the reward in 1765, the rest to wait until other makers could build similar timekeepers. RMG
MythA bigger gear always turns faster.
FactA driven gear with twice the pinion’s teeth turns with twice the force at half the speed. Britannica
MythWatches were invented after pendulum clocks.
FactBritannica says the first watches appeared shortly after 1500, with early ones made by Henlein, a locksmith in Nürnberg. Britannica Christiaan Huygens made the first pendulum clock in 1656. NIST
MythThe Antikythera mechanism was a clock.
FactThe Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek bronze device for showing the movements of the sky, was recovered in 1901 from a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera. Britannica Its exact purpose is still unknown. Britannica