Horology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Horology is the study of the science and art of timekeeping devices. Clocks, watches, and chronometers are examples of instruments used to measure time.

Horology has a long history and there are many museums and several specialised libraries devoted to the subject. An example is the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which is also the source of the Prime Meridian (longitude 0° 0' 0"), and the home of the first marine timekeepers accurate enough to determine longitude (made by John Harrison). One of the more comprehensive museums dedicated to horology is the Musée International d'Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). One of the better horological museums in Germany is the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum. The two leading specialised horological museums in North America are the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia Pa. and the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol CT.

One of the most comprehensive horological libraries open to the public is the National Watch and Clock Library and Research Center in Columbia, PA (USA).

People interested in horology are called horologists. That term is used both by people who deal professionally with timekeeping apparatus (watchmakers, clockmakers), as well as aficionados and scholars of horology. Horology and horologists have numerous organisations, both professional associations and more scholarly societies.

The leading scholarly horological organisations for non-professionals are:

Antiquarian Horological Society - AHS (United Kingdom)
Association Française des Amateurs d'Horlogerie Ancienne - AFAHA (France)
Chronometrophilia (Switzerland)
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chronometrie - DGC (Germany)
HORA Associazione Italiana Cultori di Orologeria Antica (Italy)
National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors - NAWCC (United States of America)