ABSTRACT
The five centuries after about 1300 were unusually significant in the history of time as a whole. Two developments predominated. First, mechanical clocks began to be widely developed and deployed, with steady improvements in technology; innovations soon extended to the first introduction of watches and, at least as prototypes, alarm clocks. The second change involved a growing sense of time and an expanding use of time – there may have been more discussion of time, relative to other topics, in 18th-century Europe than ever before or since. The chapter focuses on these twin developments. The centuries in question are often defined, in both European and world history, as “early modern”. The rise of clocks and changes in the sense of time highlight the importance of the early modern period as a time of key transitions.
