History of The Pendulum Clock

The pendulum clock is a unique time piece that tells the time by swinging a mechanical body back and forth from 10 to 15 degrees. Pendulum clocks go all the way back to the 1600′s and was man’s great invention on telling time accurately. The basics of this clock is a face, a weight, a keyhole and the pendulum.

The clock is controlled by gears hidden in the clock which move the hands  with every swing of the pendulum. There is an obvious disparity in sophistication when you compare the pendulum clock to a modern quartz model, but pendulum clocks have a great and long history. A German man named Peter Henlein experimented with ways to tell the time accurately. His goal was to develop an instrument that everyone could use that would serve as a standard for time. Henlein’s experiments lead to his invention of a clock that is very similar to the pendulum wall clock of today, but it failed to accurately tell the time.

A big problem with his invention was that it only hand an hour hand and posed problems for those wanting to know half hours. His work was improved upon by Christian Huygens and he is the one credited with the invention of the pendulum clock. Several years after his invention he added a minute hand and thus gave his time piece much more accuracy.

His great success is no surprise as he was a mathematician who was adamant about being accurate and precise. His device has been improved upon over the years by anonymous inventors and technologists. A big improvement on his device was to make it swing a little less.

Pendulum clocks have the longest history and it is terrific that this time keeping device is still a popular choice for home remodelers and decorators.