Editing Clock (section)

=== Mechanical water clocks ===

{{See also|Automaton#Ancient}}

The first known [[gear]]ed clock was invented by the great mathematician, physicist, and engineer [[Archimedes]] during the 3rd century BC. Archimedes created his astronomical clock,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moussas|first=Xenophon|title=The Antikythera Mechanism, the first mechanical cosmos (in Greek)|publisher=Canto Mediterraneo|year=2018|isbn=978-618-83695-0-4|location=Athens}}</ref>{{fact|reason=I can't find any record of this book, ISBN doesn't even seem to exist|date=April 2024}} which was also a cuckoo clock with birds singing and moving every hour. It is the first carillon clock as it plays music simultaneously with a person blinking his eyes, surprised by the singing birds. The Archimedes clock works with a system of four weights, counterweights, and strings regulated by a system of floats in a water container with siphons that regulate the automatic continuation of the clock. The principles of this type of clock are described by the mathematician and physicist Hero,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dasypodius|first=K.|title=Heron mechanicus.|year=1580}}</ref> who says that some of them work with a chain that turns a gear in the mechanism.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hero|first=of Alexandria|title=see Hero's books: Pneumatica (Πνευματικά), Automata, Mechanica, Metrica, Dioptra|orig-date=1st century BC to 1st century AD|location=Alexandria}}</ref> Another Greek clock probably constructed at the time of Alexander was in Gaza, as described by Procopius.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Procopius of Caesarea|first=Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς|title=Περὶ Κτισμάτων, Perì Ktismáton; Latin: De Aedificiis, On Buildings|date=c. 500s }}</ref> The Gaza clock was probably a Meteoroskopeion, i.e., a building showing celestial phenomena and the time. It had a pointer for the time and some automations similar to the Archimedes clock. There were 12 doors opening one every hour, with Hercules performing his labors, the Lion at one o'clock, etc., and at night a lamp becomes visible every hour, with 12 windows opening to show the time.

[[File:SuSongClock1.JPG|thumb|upright|A [[scale model]] of [[Su Song]]'s [[Astronomical]] Clock Tower, built in 11th-century [[Kaifeng]], China. It was driven by a large [[waterwheel]], [[chain drive]], and [[escapement]] mechanism.]]

The [[Tang dynasty]] Buddhist monk [[Yi Xing]] along with government official [[Liang Lingzan]] made the escapement in 723 (or 725) to the workings of a water-powered [[armillary sphere]] and [[drive wheel|clock drive]], which was the world's first clockwork escapement.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 165">Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd, p. 165.</ref><ref>Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd, p. 319.</ref> The [[Song dynasty]] [[polymath]] and genius [[Su Song]] (1020–1101) incorporated it into his monumental innovation of the astronomical clock tower of [[Kaifeng]] in 1088.<ref>{{Cite web|title=No. 120: Su-Sung's Clock|url=https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi120.htm|access-date=2021-02-18|website=www.uh.edu|archive-date=February 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226194506/https://uh.edu/engines/epi120.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>History of Song 宋史, Vol. 340</ref>{{Page needed|date=July 2011}} His astronomical clock and rotating [[armillary sphere]] still relied on the use of either flowing water during the spring, summer, and autumn seasons or [[mercury (element)|liquid mercury]] during the freezing temperatures of winter (i.e., [[hydraulics]]).
In Su Song's waterwheel linkwork device, the action of the escapement's arrest and release was achieved by gravity exerted periodically as the continuous flow of liquid-filled containers of a limited size. In a single line of evolution, Su Song's clock therefore united the concepts of the clepsydra and the mechanical clock into one device run by mechanics and hydraulics. In his memorial, Su Song wrote about this concept:

<blockquote>According to your servant's opinion there have been many systems and designs for astronomical instruments during past dynasties all differing from one another in minor respects. But the principle of the use of water-power for the driving mechanism has always been the same. The heavens move without ceasing but so also does water flow (and fall). Thus if the water is made to pour with perfect evenness, then the comparison of the rotary movements (of the heavens and the machine) will show no discrepancy or contradiction; for the unresting follows the unceasing.</blockquote>

Song was also strongly influenced by the earlier armillary sphere created by [[Zhang Sixun]] (976 AD), who also employed the escapement mechanism and used liquid [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] instead of water in the waterwheel of his astronomical clock tower. The mechanical clockworks for Su Song's astronomical tower featured a great driving-wheel that was 11 feet in diameter, carrying 36 scoops, into each of which water was poured at a uniform rate from the "constant-level tank". The main driving shaft of iron, with its cylindrical necks supported on iron crescent-shaped bearings, ended in a pinion, which engaged a gear wheel at the lower end of the main vertical transmission shaft. This great astronomical hydromechanical clock tower was about ten metres high (about 30 feet), featured a clock [[escapement]], and was indirectly powered by a rotating wheel either with falling water or [[Mercury (element)|liquid mercury]]. A full-sized working replica of Su Song's clock exists in the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan)'s [[National Museum of Natural Science]], [[Taichung]] city. This full-scale, fully functional replica, approximately 12 meters (39 feet) in height, was constructed from Su Song's original descriptions and mechanical drawings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Masters: The Astronomical Water Clock Of Su Song |url=https://revolutionwatch.com/past-masters-the-astronomical-water-clock-of-su-song/ |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=revolutionwatch.com |date=August 8, 2014 |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407055722/https://revolutionwatch.com/past-masters-the-astronomical-water-clock-of-su-song/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Chinese escapement spread west and was the source for Western escapement technology.<ref name=Derek>[[Derek J. de Solla Price]], [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30001/30001-h/30001-h.htm On the Origin of Clockwork, Perpetual Motion Devices, and the Compass], p.86</ref>
[[File:Al-jazari elephant clock.png|thumb|upright|An [[elephant clock]] in a manuscript by [[Al-Jazari]] (1206 AD) from ''The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices''<ref>[[Ibn al-Razzaz Al-Jazari]] (ed. 1974), ''The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices''. Translated and annotated by [[Donald Routledge Hill]], Dordrecht/[[D. Reidel]].</ref>]]
In the 12th century, [[Al-Jazari]], an engineer from Mesopotamia (lived 1136–1206) who worked for the [[Artuqid]] king of Diyar-Bakr, [[Nasrudin|Nasir al-Din]], made numerous clocks of all shapes and sizes. The most reputed clocks included [[Elephant clock|the elephant]], scribe, and [[castle clock]]s, some of which have been successfully reconstructed. As well as telling the time, these grand clocks were symbols of the status, grandeur, and wealth of the Urtuq State.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remaking History: Ismail al-Jazari and the Elephant Water Clock - Make |url=https://makezine.com/projects/remaking-history-ismail-al-jazari-and-the-elephant-water-clock/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers |date=May 7, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111190253/https://makezine.com/projects/remaking-history-ismail-al-jazari-and-the-elephant-water-clock/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Knowledge of these mercury escapements may have spread through Europe with translations of Arabic and Spanish texts.<ref name="Hassan">[[Ahmad Y Hassan|Hassan, Ahmad Y]], [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.html Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924030451/http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.html |date=September 24, 2015 }}, ''History of Science and Technology in Islam''</ref><ref name=Ajram>{{Cite book|last=Ajram |first=K. |year=1992 |title=Miracle of Islamic Science |chapter=Appendix B |publisher=Knowledge House Publishers |isbn=0-911119-43-4}}</ref>