Water Clock essays

Water Clock essays Little did Ctesibius know, but he was perfecting a water system that would eventually be used many years later. Although not the exact version, but the overall concept derived from Ctesibius perfections of the Egyptian idea. His one project that we recognize today is the clock. However it was not the typical clock that we think of, but a water clock, clepsydra. This water clock was made of stone vessels with sloping sides that allowed water to drip at a nearly constant rate from a small hole near the bottom. Hours were marked on the sides of either the bowl that received the water or the container from which it flowed. Other water clocks were bowl-shaped containers that slowly filled with water at a constant rate. These were measured in hours according to the level of a float on the water. Another type, a forerunner of the modern clock, contained a wheel connected to a float. As the level of the float changed, the wheel turned to indicate the hour on a dial. The device was u sed in ancient Athens to regulate the length of orations as well as speeches made in court. Further advancements/changes that derived from the water clock began with the mechanical clocks of the Middle Ages, these were run by falling weights. Although these clocks were more convenient than the water clock, the accuracy did not change. The accuracy of Ctesibius's water clock was eventually surpassed in 1657 by the pendulum clock of Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and physicist Christiaan Huygens, but the spirit of Ctesibius's clock still survives in the cuckoo clock. It would be difficult to say how we could change or improve the clock since many people have already done so. All the time companies come out with new gadgets to clocks, such as many have cd players on them these days. Without Ctesibius continuing what the Egyptians had started, the clock would not be what we know it today. Who would have guessed that it could be plugged into electricit ...