Lindsay Rand’s Comps Presentation
Monday, February 29th
8:30 am in Olin 101
Coming of Age: the Scientific Evolution of Horology
Chronophobia is defined as the irrational fear of time; the symptoms for chronophobia include panic, anxiety, and claustrophobia in the realization of the passage of time. Though this may seem extreme to the ordinary person, it actually may not be as far off as one might thing. We all feel it- the inexorable ticking of the little hand on our wristwatches or wall clocks- telling us at every second of the day that we are late for something. Sometimes we look at clocks, thinking more time has passed than it has and other times we look at it thinking that less time has passed than it truly has. This is not entirely due to poor time management skills, but in part due to the fact that human bodies simply don’t have an accurate method for measuring time. This deficiency is one that the human race has been trying to make up for thousands of years. Early people looked at the motion of the planets, stars, sun and moon to measure the passage of time. With the understanding of integrated gear systems, people were eventually able to create more precise mechanisms relying on penduli and springs. The understanding of modern physics and the atomic spectra inspired the atomic clock, today’s method of times standardization. The story of the evolution of horology, the measurement of time, is one that marks the human endeavor to create an even more accurate definition for our place in the universe. This paper will record the major steps in this human endeavor.