Clocks shape our lives, from the watches on our wrists, or the alarms on our phones, to the satellites orbiting far above our heads. Clocks tell us when to get up, when to go to work, when to rest, when to eat. Clocks power our GPS, our phones, our banking systems. They fuel global communications and are present during the intimate moments of our lives, timekeeping is utterly embedded into the fabric of our lives to the point where, should clocks suddenly cease functioning, the world as we know it would unravel.
But how did clocks become so vital? How did a humble device for measuring the hours become so deeply intertwined with the exercise of power and the machinery of modern life?
In this series, I will take you on a journey through the history and politics of timekeeping, from the earliest development of water clocks and sundials, through to the cutting-edge atomic clocks of the modern world. From symbols to enforce power, to tools of practising faith, and from the expansion of colonialism to causes of public protest, we will explore how timekeeping shaped the structure of social and political order.
Join me, as we discover how these instruments of measurement became instruments of influence, and how they continue to shape the world we live in today.