Talk:Clock face

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I don't think this page reflects the true story of the early clock face. As with some of the other Wiki pages (eg clock), it needs expanding and de-simplifying (where things have been over-simplified!).

There's been a lot of debate about the development of the early mechanical (not water) clock. Was it entirely for ringing bells, or was it an attempt to produce a planetary display? Derek Price (1959) suggests that the first clocks were geared astrolabes, and the plain mechanical clock was just a 'degenerate' spin-off. Landes (1983) counters that simple machines such as clocks must have come first, because simple technology always precedes complex. North ("God's Clockmaker: Richard of Wallingford and the Invention of Time", 2005) argues that both are probably wrong: that bell-ringing clocks and geared planetarium-style displays developed together and influenced each other from 1250 to 1350: tower clocks were simpler and may have had minimal dials (except a dial for setting the time!), whereas more complex astronomical clocks would have looked more like astrolabes, but were perhaps not suitable for mounting in towers. Perhaps the big simple tower clocks had large bells and small dials, whereas the smaller more complex astronomical clocks had smaller bells and larger dials! Also, consider that the richer institutions (eg abbeys with land) would have been able to afford the latest and most complex technology, and the less affluent ones (smaller city councils?) would have perhaps gone for the more basic models.

In 1322, the clock at Norwich was rebuilt: the iron plate for the astronomical dial weighed 87 lbs, was transported from London. This was to be the clock face for the astronomical dial, and North suggests that it was 6 feet across.

In the 1330s, Richard of Wallingford was constructing the famous St Albans clock, which looked like a big powered astrolabe. This was a display clock, and the dial showed the star map, zodiac rings, and so on. Hands showed the position of the sun, the moon, and also indicated likely eclipses.

Cormullion 08:01, 25 April 2006 (UTC)