Keeping track of time seems simple. A watch ticks, a pendulum swings, and a calendar flips. But at the quantum level, marking time is far more complicated — and far more expensive than anyone expected ...

Using this design, you can construct an electromagnetically impulsed pendulum clock with a 1-second beat. On the prototype, the pendulum rod is 115cm long with a bob adjusted to make it beat every ...

As a rule, Donald Saff doesn’t collect clocks he can’t see inside of. It’s the harmonic entanglement of gears—and the skill needed to craft them—that first lured him to horology, the study of ...

Christiaan Huygens was a busy scholar. Among his many achievements, the Dutch scientist figured out the shape of Saturn's rings and discovered that planet's largest moon, Titan. He founded the theory ...