The Great Exhibition Of 1851

Charles Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution, was also a keen observer of his times.  In 1851, he took his children to Hyde Park to the Crystal Palace, also known as The Great Exhibition.  All kinds of new and unusual devices were on display, one of which (had it survived) would be known as the most dangerous antique alarm clock in the world today.

In this antique alarm clock, the sleeper’s was made on springs and levers.  When it came time for the sleeper to come out of the Land of Nod, the bed would shoot up, propelling the sleeper into a tub of cold water.  Unbelievably, this kind of antique alarm clock never caught on.  In fact, it’s usually not listed in historical papers on the Great Exhibition.  This antique alarm clock is, however, lovingly detailed in Charles Darwin’s personal diaries.

The Nuremberg Wall Clock

A much more conventional and dry antique wall clock is thought to have been made in the 1400’s in Nuremberg, Germany.  It was made of iron and had bronze bells and worked as a smaller version of the huge town clocks all around European cities since the 1100’s.  It was a mere nineteen inches tall.  Its existence is doubtful, especially after the World Wars Germany went through.  We know of this antique wall clock through old writings.

Salisbury Cathedral

The oldest known antique alarm clock still ticking away today can be seen in Salisbury Cathedral in England near Stonehenge, once thought to be a kind of antique alarm clock but now thought to be a place of ancestor worship.  Known as “the Medieval Clock”, this antique alarm clock was thought to be made around 1386.

Alarm clocks were rather large in the fourteenth century – usually only a clock tower or a cathedral could hold one. he big advantage was that the whole town could use one.  Also, you didn’t have to worry about antique alarm clock thieves.  Or, worry about sober thieves, anyway.  If anyone tried to steal this antique alarm clock, they wouldn’t be able to get very far without someone pretending not to notice.

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Features To Consider

When you are selecting a digital travel alarm clock, there are several features competing for “highest priority.” You are the one who decides which is most important to you.

Some people, particularly those traveling light, are most concerned about the weight of the digital travel alarm clock. While many are lightweight, some are just small, but can weigh a few pounds. Don’t be caught with too heavy of a clock!

For others, the ease of setting the alarm and time are the most important. It is important to be able to set the alarm accurately, every time. And to be able to change the time on the clock if you will be crossing time zones. Some digital travel alarm clocks will do this automatically, if they are atomic. Alternately, you can select a digital world clock, which would have times from around the world.

Think about the numbers on your digital travel alarm clock. Are they large enough to be able to see them in the dark? When traveling, it is common to wake in the night, worrying about the time. If you tend to wake, you might want to be able to easily see the time. Also, depending on whether the numbers are lit by LED or LCD, there may be a backlight inside the alarm clock that can interfere with falling asleep. On some travel alarm clocks, that light can be dimmed.

Consider how your digital travel alarm clock gets its power. Do you want one that will need to be plugged into a wall socket? Or uses a battery? If battery powered, it is much more flexible on where it can be used. Also, if there isn’t a battery, the time will need to be re-set when you plug it back in, so most people prefer battery operated digital travel alarm clocks. Remember to check the battery prior to traveling – using a fresh battery is a great idea!

Though travel alarm clocks must be small, some include a radio. If you want to be able to wake to music, a radio will have to be included.

You can get a digital travel alarm clock with “bells and whistles.” Consider getting one with a sunrise simulator, where the alarm is set to gradually increase the amount of light that the digital travel alarm clock emits. It is perfect for anyone who is more alert after waking up gradually.

Not all digital travel alarm clocks include a snooze button. That’s the button you can press to get the gift of a few more precious minutes before you have to get up. On some, you can press it more than once – so be careful with that type! The time it gives is often a set amount, like nine minutes, but on some digital travel alarm clocks it is adjustable.

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What is an atomic digital wall clock?

An atomic clock is one that uses an atomic resonance frequency standard for its timekeeping element. This is the most accurate type of clock there is. Because this clock is so accurate, it is the primary standard for international time distribution services, and it controls GPS satellite signals and the frequency of tv broadcasts.

The atomic digital clocks, like a wall clock, is automatically synchronized to the signal sent out by the U.S. Atomic Clock in Colorado.

What About Their Accuracy?

An atomic digital wall clock maintains such great accuracy that they never need adjusting. It adjusts each day back to the split second, and automatically adjusts for daylight savings time, leap year, and changes in time zones. How great of accuracy is that? How about only losing one second every 80 million years!

And Their History?

Atomic clocks were first built in 1949. But it wasn’t truly accurate – that didn’t come until later, when Louis Essen of the UK made his model in 1955. When that was developed, it was agreed that the second would be based on the atomic clock, rather than the rotation of the Earth around the Sun as it was measured previously.

There have been many versions of digital atomic clocks, both wall and smaller. Some have used hydrogen, caesium, or rubidium. The caesium type is the most revered. The caesium oscillator has become the primary standard for time and frequency measurements throughout the world. Rubidium standard clocks are inexpensive and small, but are only stable for a shorter time period. They are useful in many applications, such as aerospace, portable, and commercial types. Hydrogen type are much more stable for short term applications, but they are less accurate over the long time period.

And The Future?
In August 0f 2004, scientists showed they had made a computer chip sized atomic clock. It was one-hundredth the size of any previously made. It could be used in tiny places, like wristwatches, but would also be good in larger spaces, like a digital alarm clock radio or even a digital atomic wall clock. This new type of atomic clock is more accurate than ever before, utilizing strontium atoms trapped in a laser grid. Its inaccuracy is less than one second in 200 million years. That just might be accurate enough for any of us.

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The hallmark of a good quality world atomic clock is its exceptional functionality and sleek and compact design which should make it capable of receiving signals that are transmitted by different governments in diverse regions of the world. It can then use this information to tell the time in a particular part of the world right down to the last split-second.

In fact, a world atomic clock can also automatically set the date and it is even able to adjust its times to account for daylight saving time. But, scientists from different parts of the world are now looking beyond world atomic clocks and are in fact thinking about more advanced concepts that will mean that the clocks in our world will, in the future, need to have their time set by a timepiece that will circle high above the Earth. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, this may one day become the norm rather than an exception – if things go according to plan.

In the minds of scientists working for NASA, there may in fact, be a better way to keep world time than through use of a world atomic clock and that is why they are working on a mission funded by NASA and which is known as Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space or PARCS that has been put into the ISS (International Space Station) in the year 2006 in the hope that it will someday help NASA achieve its objectives to provide even more accurate time.

Because atoms can be slowed down considerably in space, future world atomic clocks could be made to provide ten times the accuracy as compared to what present day world atomic clocks are capable of.

In the meantime, the average American will have to contend with either using a digital clock. or using a world atomic clock. However, it is the former type of clock that is very popular today, and even wrist watches are going digital and since such watches and clocks are quite accurate and also not that expensive, many more people prefer using them instead of conventional watches and clocks.

One of the features of a world atomic clock is that it has a tiny elf within that does nothing but continuously ring the Time service in each country that you travel to and in this simple way, it can display the current time for the country that you have landed in.

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Size And Shape

Before choosing an atomic travel clock it certainly pays to look at its size as well as shape because an ideal such clock must be one that is easy to pack and which also can provide a reasonably decent display. Travel clocks are available in numerous styles and so; it is not always that easy to pick the ideal travel clock.

It is a good idea however, to buy a somewhat larger atomic travel clock, especially if you are the type of person that tends to lose things easily. Some people actually wonder as to whether there is any need to own an atomic travel clock when it is just as easy to tell the time by looking at their wrist watches.

However, after having used an atomic travel clock, your thinking will have changed because these clocks have many pleasing features that will help you make important meetings and also ensure that you never miss a flight again. The better atomic travel clocks are in fact, light in weight and stylish to look at and they will automatically adjust time as you move from one time zone to another.

Of course, if you venture outside the shores of the US, the atomic travel clock will perhaps have to be adjusted to accommodate a different time zone. Modern atomic travel clocks have made a lot of progress in terms of functionality and accuracy and they are certainly a far cry from the early wind-up clocks. Some of these atomic travel clocks can even be placed beneath your pillow where they will wake you at the appointed hour not by emitting an audible sound, but with vigorous vibrations.

Another kind of atomic clock is the outdoor atomic clock that is usually hung outside of the house or perhaps in the garage or even on a patio and they are excellent outdoor clocks that will always give accurate time as well as tell temperature and even record humidity levels.

Before you set out on your travels, buying an atomic travel clock can prove to be one of the more important purchases that you will be making because it will help make your travels more enjoyable by ensuring that you will never again need to worry about missing your flight or appointment.

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Isidor Rabi

It would not be wrong to consider Isidor Rabi as being the father of the atomic clock and it was in fact, this Columbia University alumnus who suggested in the year 1945 that a clock could be made to work on different principles as compared to conventional clocks. It took a further four years before the first atomic clock in the world could be introduced and this was done by the National Bureau of Standards.

There is however no difference between a conventional clock and an atomic clock in their use of oscillations in order to keep track of time, though in the latter case, the oscillation frequency for each atom depends on the atom’s nucleus mass as well as gravity and an electrostatic spring.

Today, an atomic clock uses the cesium atom and it can give extremely accurate time and in fact, most modern such clocks are using the Cesium 133 as their base element. The main use of an atomic clock is that it keeps more accurate time as compared to the conventional means of measuring time based on the Earth’s rotation.

Modern atomic clocks are very accurate and are now used in the form of time standards and the official keeper of atomic time is The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). Atomic clock times are very important for GPS and for rocketry as well as for other applications such as Internet and digital television.

One of the striking features of an atomic clock is that it can compensate for randomized fluctuations caused by the earth’s movement and in fact, as recently as December 31st 2005 a leap second was added to compensate for slowing down in the Earth’s movement.

Thanks to the unique ability of an atomic clock to keep exceedingly accurate time it has found favor with NASA which needs to get consistent and reliable time while it is engaged in interplanetary explorations in which even a tiny fraction of a second can affect a spacecraft’s navigation considerably.

One frequent complain of everyday people is that when they set an alarm on their conventional clocks, they are never able to wake up according to the set time. This is where an atomic alarm clock can ensure that they always wake up at the exact time that they set their alarms because these clocks always give very accurate time and there is little scope for errors in timekeeping.

In fact, even computers rely on atomic clocks and that is the reason why we can now always know the exact time, no matter in which part of the world we are located.

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Dual Functions

Of course, some people choose not to wake up to the radio with their digital clock radios. Most digital clock radios are in fact dual alarm clock radios. That means that you can choose between that screeching alarm or the radio to wake you up. Some people don’t like to have the radio wake them up because it often fails to do so. They find themselves sleeping through the songs, especially if it’s their favorite song. In fact, some have reported that the songs become part of their dreams. The digital clock radios can emit that screeching alarm that’s sure to wake you up and you never have to worry about being late for work because you slept through whatever the radio happened to be playing.

The Snooze Button

People often have a love/hate relationship with their snooze button. It’s on most every digital clock radio. That snooze button allows you to delay the alarm for an extra few minutes. When the alarm goes off and you’re not ready to wake up, you can hit snooze and then wait a little longer for the alarm to go off again. Just don’t fall into that trap of hitting snooze three or four times as most people are prone to do, as that can really make you late for whatever engagement you’re trying to wake up early for.

The digital clock radio is here to stay. Most people have one and they rely on them to get them up when they need to. Of course, there is more advanced technology out there to wake you up. There are MP3 player alarms and most cell phones even have alarms that many people rely on. There are still those, however, who prefer older technology so it’s not likely that the digital clock radio will go the way of the dinosaurs just yet.

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Alarms

Some people still have CD alarm clock radios that they love to wake up to in the morning. They can set their CD clock radio alarm to play their favorite CD in the morning and it’s a great way to start the day. Music does wonders for the mind and body and when you wake up to your favorite music with a CD clock radio alarm, you are setting a great tone for the rest of your day. Of course, they also make MP3 player alarm clocks that allow you to do the same thing but, again, some people just prefer to stick with the older technology of CDs.

Multiple CDs

Some CD clock radios allow you to hold multiple CDs in one player. These often look very fancy and have three or more holders for your favorite CDs. There are also CD changers that allow you to hold sometimes up to five CDs in one player. When one CD is finished in your CD clock radio, it will automatically switch to the next one and so on. Or, you can set it to random which will allow your CD clock radio to play in a totally random order so that you never get bored of the same repetitious music.

Don’t Forget The Radio

The CD clock radio isn’t just for CDs. You can always switch to the radio to listen to your favorite Top 40 music or whatever else you’re into. Some people like to listen to the news on the AM stations. But there’s also the time, which will allow you to know what time it is while listening to your favorite music. With all of these features, the CD clock radio isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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Advantages

The main advantage of an atomic travel alarm clock is that it’s gives incredibly accurate time.  Unlike the most famous atomic clocks in America, they are very small and easy to work.  If you get them with batteries, then you don’t have to worry about them going out when there is a power outage.

Oh, yes – and you don’t have to set the time.  The atomic travel alarm clocks do that for you.  You do have to set the alarm, though.  This is because atomic travel alarm clocks work more like radios than they do clocks.  They tune in to the big atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado.  They actually use the resonance of atoms in order to tell the time rather than little gears and levers.  No, I don’t understand what that means, either.

Some atoms resonate so predictably that, well, you can literally set your watch to them.  That’s why those non-radioactive atoms are used in atomic travel alarm clocks.  One of the usual atoms is Cesium-133, which resonates always at 9,132,631,770 cycles per second.  The practical upshot of which is that this makes for a great clock.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage is that atomic travel alarm clocks run on batteries.  The greatest clock in the world will not be of any use to you if you don’t have any batteries to run it.  It’s a shame we don’t have batteries that work predictably with the resonance of Cesium-133 atoms.

Another disadvantage is that atomic travel alarm clocks cost more than other types.  Sure, they look cool, but do you really need them in this age of cell phones with internet access and super-duper watches.  Some people still prefer using travel alarm clocks rather than a phone or watch alarm because the buttons are bigger.

For me, the biggest disadvantage of an atomic travel alarm clock is that niggling voice of doubt in the back of my mind that this thing will explode on me.

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Also there are clocks that not only tell the time but announce that time through musical tones.  This type of clock is known as a chime wall clock and not only can portray the time on the face or dial of the clock but announce the time through the appropriate number of musical tones or chimes.

If considering a chime wall clock there are a number of considerations that one can take into account.  Some of those considerations can include how the chime wall clock is constructed and the chime that actually emits from the chime wall clock.

How The Chime Wall Clock Is Constructed

When considering how the chime wall clock is constructed there are a number of considerations to take into account.  Those considerations include the materials used and other features added to the timepiece.

First of all it is important to realize that there is a variety of materials that can be used to construct the chime wall clock.  Foremost is the wood that is used.  The variety of wood used to construct the chime wall clock can range from American Cherry to Mahogany to Oak.  Obviously, the more expensive the wood that is used to construct the clock the greater the cost will be to the buyer.

Also, another construction factor to consider is the workmanship involved in the construction of the chime wall clock.  If the clock looks more sculpted or ornate, the cost will certainly be greater because of the additional crafting of the clock.

Other construction items of the chime wall clock can include added features such as a pendulum, a barometer, a glass casing that can be opened, etc.

Considering The Chime

Obviously, if considering the purchase of a chime wall clock, the interested party will have the tones or tune to be played in mind.  Some of those tunes can include St. Michael’s, Westminster, or even God Bless America.  Generally, these tunes are played on the hour with the chime being sounded the number of times equating to the hour.

Additionally, available on the market, are simulated or actual antique clocks that chime out melodies or notes to signal the time.  Generally, these antique clocks are very expensive for they are handcrafted and built to keep time using quality workmanship.

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