Sunday, October 6, 2013

About Time


It is time for me to write my first blog post for Viewpoints 9.  Exciting and scary at the same time!

Time fascinates me.  In theory it moves at a regular pace, but in reality it can move very slowly or very fast; it depends on perception. Nine minutes can feel an eternity if you are simply waiting for something; while nine hours can pass in a flash if you are busy and active and never stopping.

Clocks are fascinating instruments.  They are everywhere, and they regulate time and our lives.  There was a time when they were rare and very expensive; the development of cheap watches changed that. 

Large clocks could be beautiful home centrepieces. 

Clocks on public places were common and often consulted.

Some of them were much more complicated, and told not just the daily time but also astronomical time, the phases of the moon, the seasons, and many other things.

See below - Jen Jensen's World Clock in Copenhagen.



Nowadays time is kept by atomic clocks, which are so accurate that they deviate only one second in 20 million years.  It is that kind of accurate time that is transmitted to our mobile phones.

About Time is also the title of a recent British film where time travel is used as a device for a story intended to make us appreciate time – how important it is to use it well, and not do things we may later regret, as we cannot go back to the past to change our actions.



5 comments:

  1. Thank you, Alicia. I like your sharing and I agree with you!
    I'm looking forward to seeing the quilts of this challenge!

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  2. Hi, Alicia and welcome! Clocks are fascinating things and the idea that they've become *so* accurate is an interesting concept. My father collected scroll clocks from 1800 - early 1900's and a lot of my childhood memories have incorporated that rhythmic tick-tock in the background. The clocks themselves were beautiful, all hand-crafted and painted. I wonder if an iPhone 5S is the contemporary version of a beautiful time piece?

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  3. Great first post Alicia and welcome to the group. What would we all do if we had 9 extra minutes each day?

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    1. Thank you all for your kind words! I'm so delighted to be in the group. Sue, I would like to have 9 extra HOURS each day, to do everything I want to do!
      Just for information, I took all the photos: the grandfather clock is in the British Museum, which has a whole room full of antique clocks; the station clock was taken in one of the London train stations, I've forgotten which.... And the Jen Jensen clock is in the Town Hall in Copenhagen, where I was a couple of months ago - I spent a long time there watching the different faces, and reading about all the things it does....

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  4. Alicia, it is so great to have you as part of the group, Welcome! I love your clock pictures. I have always loved the gears and intricate pieces of old clocks. I know the digital age may have brought atomic accuracy, but I miss the beauty of older timepieces. This is a fascinating challenge, I can't wait to see the results.

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