Huygens' Clocks
In 1657, Christiaan Huygens revolutionized the measurement of time by creating the first working pendulum clock. In early 1665, Huygens discovered ``..an odd kind of sympathy perceived by him in these watches [two pendulum clocks] suspended by the side of each other.'' The pendulum clocks swung with exactly the same frequency and 180 degrees out of phase; when the pendulums were disturbed, the antiphase state was restored within a half-hour and persisted indefinitely. Huygens deduced that the crucial interaction for this effect came from ``imperceptible movements'' of the common frame supporting the two clocks. He thought this synchronization could be used to provide the exquisite timing necessary to solve the famous ``longitude problem'' in maritime navigation and spent many years developing and testing designs for pendulum clocks that function at sea.
physics, synchronisation saved by: davidar
http://www.physics.gatech.edu/schatz/clocks.html
In 1657, Christiaan Huygens revolutionized the measurement of time by creating the first working pendulum clock. In early 1665, Huygens discovered ``..an odd kind of sympathy perceived by him in these watches [two pendulum clocks] suspended by the side of each other.'' The pendulum clocks swung with exactly the same frequency and 180 degrees out of phase; when the pendulums were disturbed, the antiphase state was restored within a half-hour and persisted indefinitely. Huygens deduced that the crucial interaction for this effect came from ``imperceptible movements'' of the common frame supporting the two clocks. He thought this synchronization could be used to provide the exquisite timing necessary to solve the famous ``longitude problem'' in maritime navigation and spent many years developing and testing designs for pendulum clocks that function at sea.
physics, synchronisation saved by: davidar
http://www.physics.gatech.edu/schatz/clocks.html
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Huygens’ clocks
The 336-year-old synchronization observations of Christiaan Huygens are reexam- ined in modern experiments. A simple model of synchronization is proposed. Keywords: sync...
physics, synchronisation saved by: davidar more details ...
http://www.physics.gatech.edu/schatz/pubs/royclocks2.pdf
The 336-year-old synchronization observations of Christiaan Huygens are reexam- ined in modern experiments. A simple model of synchronization is proposed. Keywords: sync...
physics, synchronisation saved by: davidar more details ...
http://www.physics.gatech.edu/schatz/pubs/royclocks2.pdf