ABSTRACT
In the period from the beginning of the classical era to the end of the Middle Ages, about 2,000 years, the history of monumental water-clocks occupies about 1,600 years, that of the mechanical clock less than 200. Even if we extend the history of timekeeping to the present, the life of the mechanical clock is still less than half that of its predecessors. Nevertheless, almost all histories of horology, after devoting a few pages to sundials and water-clocks in their role as ancestors to the mechanical clock, then proceed to describe the invention of the verge escapement and the subsequent development of the mechanical clock. 1
