Stephen Hawking made some enigmatic allusions to “a new way to tell time” last week before he unveiled the Chronophage at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, England Friday. It’s a sight to behold.
Inventor John Taylor designed the clock to be frightening, since that’s the way he views the passage of time. The clock is made of gold and includes six new patented inventions. The passage of time is marked by the beast on top.
The monster momentarily stops the turning dial with its foot to mark the minutes, shown as blue LED lights shining through slots. It was originally conceived by Taylor as a literal interpretation of the grasshopper escapement invented by his hero, the Georgian clockmaker John Harrison whose fabulously accurate mechanisms solved the problem of establishing longitude at sea.
The creature, modelled by sculptor Matthew Sanderson, was inspired by medieval armour and gradually became more ominous: part-lizard, part-stag beetle, a Chronophage – time eater.
Bringing the clock to reality took a team of 200 people, seven years, and a million pounds ($1.8 million). The grasshopper escapement converts the power of a pendulum into the mechanical movement of the clock. The only electricity in use is to power the LEDs, which look awesome but also detract from the clock’s steampunk aura. The beast opens his jaws wider and wider until they snap shut at the end of a minute. A “time eater”, indeed. He also moves his head and blinks his eyes occasionally. That’s cool, but can you tell what time it is by looking at this thing?
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So when will these be available at Target?
posted by Brother Bill on 9-22-2008 at 7:19 am
Also of note is Taylor’s language describing the clock’s unique time-telling. He says, “Every 60 seconds it counts a minute.” The clock does not count every second evenly. Unfortunately, I haven’t found an article that delves into the specifics of how this illustrates relative time.
posted by Tim on 9-22-2008 at 8:17 am
At first, no I couldn’t figure out what time it was. The seconds are simple enough (the light that changes every second). Next, I think that it might be on military time. This means that it would read from the outside in 60-60-24 and would read like a typical arm and face clock but with 24 hours instead of 12. The LED-panic attack that it has every once in a while is a complete mystery to me though.
posted by Gary on 9-22-2008 at 9:05 am
As an aside (and since he was mentioned in the article), I highly recommend the book Longitude by Dava Sobel.
It’s a biography/history novel that goes into the history of the English clockmaker John Harrison and the issues he had getting his precision timekeeper accepted by the scientific community.
No really… it’s not boring. Go read it.
posted by Jason! on 9-22-2008 at 10:29 am
The time is 3:00. The LEDS are in the same place as the hands on a real clock. He even says the time right at the beginning. The “panic Attack” happens as the minute starts again, or else at the top of every hour.
posted by Erin on 9-22-2008 at 11:47 am
Its 3:00.
posted by Erin on 9-22-2008 at 11:51 am