After applying for patent, the decimal system of 12 and 60 spread all over the world with mechanical watches.
In addition, the first watch in the world was invented by Su Song of China (1020-11kloc-0/), but it was not a mechanical watch, but a marine instrument.
If you are interested, please read the following information:
I'm not trying to be amazing. There should be "five great inventions" in ancient China. Besides paper, printing, gunpowder and compass, there is also a clock. The location of this invention was in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the inventor's name was Su Song, which was little known. This is an oversight of history. In fact, he was as great an ancient scientist as Shen Kuo, and Shen Kuo published On Meng Xi.
10 years ago, in a lecture held by Vacheron Constantin for collectors of antique watches, Mr. Jiao Da Yu, a world-famous watch master and a Hong Kong watch historian, made a surprising remark: the world's first water conveyance with an escapement system was made in China, and he was Su Song, the prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. Jiao Dayu proudly declared that China people created the history of clocks and watches. Shake off the dust left by time, and wisdom still shines. Regained pride is still unforgettable pride.
First, Su Ge.
For a person, being famous or little known may be accidental or inevitable. If the watercraft is handed down from generation to generation like the story of Meng Xi, Su Song may be a dazzling star. But the big clock disappeared in the war of the nomads from the army, and people didn't know enough about its value. As a result, Su Song became a pearl in the earth together with the water transport instrument.
Su Song (1020-11kloc-0/), a native of Quanzhou, Fujian Province, still has his former residence in Tongan County and has become a tourist attraction. When he was young, he was smart, learned and remembered. After taking the township examination, I was admitted to the Jinshi and entered the official career. One of his classmates, with a little poor intelligence, was discouraged, but with his encouragement, he went into business and later became a famous ship king in Fujian.
Su Song's literary accomplishment is quite good, and his poems are full of aura. If he continues to study, he will achieve extraordinary results. But everyone has their own interests. He likes scientific research and is often interested in inventions. In three years (1088), Song Zhezong Yuan You built a water transport instrument platform, which has three functions: observing celestial coordinates, demonstrating celestial motion and mechanical timing. The international scientific community spoke highly of this invention, believing that it was probably the "direct ancestor" of the later European medieval astronomical clock. He also wrote a book "Essentials of New Instruments and Imaging Methods", which recorded the structure, usage and related instructions of water transport instruments and imaging platforms in detail, reflecting the outstanding achievements of science and technology at that time. Thus virtually proved Su Song's ancestor position in the world clock history.
Su Song and writer Su Shi were officials of the same dynasty. Although they are not brothers, they share common interests in literature and medicine. Shi Zaixi Ning On June 21st, Su Shi was appointed as the chief judge in Hangzhou, and Su Songgang left Wuzhou, Jiangxi, and went to Bozhou, Anhui as the magistrate, passing through Hangzhou. So, I lived in Dongpo for a few days, chatted about friendship, and visited the scenery of fifteen caves with Sean, Sun Yi and Huang Hao, leaving several people with the same titles, which are now precious cultural relics.
Second, the water instrument platform
Su Song invented the photographic platform of water transport instrument, which is a large-scale scientific and technological device integrating instruments and clocks. Its height is 35 feet, 6 inches and 5 minutes, nearly 12 meters, which is equivalent to the height of three floors now, and its width is 2 1 foot. A monster! The whole platform is a square wooden building with narrow top and wide bottom. The wall of the platform is made of wood, and the board is painted with flying cranes. The platform is divided into three floors. There are two doors in the south of the ground floor, and there is a long wooden platform by the wall of the platform in the north, which is the place for operation and the place where the water bearer runs the waterwheel. There is a group of water lifting machinery in front of the console, which consists of water lifting lower wheel, water lifting lower pot, water lifting upper wheel, water lifting lower pot, river car and Tianhe. Turn the handlebar to lift the water from the lower wheel (truck) and pour it into Tianhe (receiving tank) step by step. On the east side of this group of water lifting machinery, there is a group of "copper pot dripping" devices: two square sinks are sleeved on a wooden frame, with Tianchi being the highest and flat pot the lowest. The flat kettle has a drain pipe, so that the flat kettle always keeps a certain water level. The water outlet under the flat kettle can keep a constant amount of water. There is a pivot wheel with a diameter of 1 1 ft in the west of the flat kettle, which is the prime Mover of the whole mechanical structure and is driven by water. It is a waterwheel consisting of 36 buckets and hook paddles. A set of lever device is attached to the top of the pivot wheel, which is equivalent to the "escape mechanism" (commonly known as "clip") in clocks and watches. It is very similar to the anchor escapement in Europe in the17th century, and its functions are basically the same.
A kettle is arranged below the pivot wheel, and a water pipe is arranged on the kettle to communicate with the ascending kettle. In this way, the water circulates for one week, and the drainage tank becomes the water source again. When the bucket of the pivot wheel is full, its weight makes the pivot fork out of balance. At this time, the lattice fork leans downward again, and the pivot fork is lifted upward. The iron dial of the pivot wheel toggles the switch tongue, pulling the balance of the sky and opening the sky upwards. The pivot wheel turns over a bucket, and then the Tianmen falls again. Due to the escapement and rejection of the left and right sky locks, the pivot wheel only rotates one barrel. The rotation speed of the pivot wheel is determined by the flow rate of the clepsydra and controlled by a set of escapement mechanisms. Aside from the role of astronomy, the error of one day and one night is only one second, which is quite accurate.
I don't know why, Su Song only wrote that the crown wheel and the shifting gear each have 600 teeth, and the other teeth were not specified. Maybe it's for technical secrets. In my opinion, putting such a large instrument in the capital at that time was not only convenient for telling time, but also a unique urban landscape. If it can be preserved to this day, Su Song's name is not under Bi Sheng who invented movable type printing.
Third, Jiao Da Yu is a man.
If Su Song is a famous scientist in ancient times, Jiao Dayu is a contemporary legendary watchmaker who introduced us to Su Song, the father of world watches.
1965, 19 Jiao Dayu is a young worker in Kai Guanchang, Suzhou. He was the first to design and make the Chairman Mao's badge with the word "Dayu" engraved on the back. Now the medal of honor is a collection treasure, which is hard to find. 1970, he made a watch by hand, becoming the first "Made in Suzhou", from which Suzhou Watch Factory was born. 1980 Moved to Hong Kong with his wife and daughter. In order to upgrade, he got back 3 million parts from the watch manufacturer. The couple and a helper finally assembled 500 thousand watches and sent them to the manufacturer on time. The factory was very surprised and thought they had double god hands! Moreover, he has a family fortune of 600,000 from scratch, which is even more legendary in Hong Kong. His passion for creation made him especially diligent. Since then, every year, "tourbillon" watches have been born under his hands. From 1990 to 2004, Jiao Dayu made 15 "tourbillon" watch. On June 5438+February 3, 2003, Switzerland awarded him a patent certificate, confirming that "Tianyi Flywheel" was the first invention in the world. Jiao Dayu also got the nickname "tourbillon". Swiss colleagues call him this way because "tourbillon" is the most sophisticated part of watch technology, the biggest technical challenge faced by machinery manufacturers, and enjoys an insurmountable revered position in the watch industry.
From 199 1, Jiao Dayu goes to the International Watch Fair in Basel, Switzerland every year. This is an international event, known as the "Olympics" of the watch industry. He puts out at least one new work of his own every year, and he is an eye-catching figure in the exhibition every year. Whether you call it playing hard to get or you call it playing hard to get, Jiao Dayu is really different. In any case, "only show and not sell" has become the most unique logo of Jiao Dayu.
200 1, when Jiao Dayu went to the Basel Watch Fair, he got strong support from the China Watch Association. He put up a flag on the China International Import Expo(CIIE) and gracefully declared that China had invented the watch in the world watch kingdom. At that time, although some people raised objections, when he presented relevant research materials, the other party was speechless. Because even Patek Philippe, the most authoritative publication of Swiss timepieces, explicitly admitted that China invented timepieces. In 2002, CCTV's People column filmed a 30-minute special topic for him, and he went to Kan Kan again to talk about his views. He said that China's ancient sundials, water clocks, fire clocks and copper pots dripping and leaking can only be counted as timers. Only 1090 Su Song made the water transport instrument, which not only keeps time accurately, but also has an escapement that makes a ticking sound when working. This is the fundamental difference between a clock and a timer. He also found a sentence in a book by Joseph Needham, a famous British historian of science and technology: "Since Su Song combined horological machinery with astronomical observation instruments, it has been completely successful in principle. He was six centuries ahead of robert hooke, such as He Fei (regarded as the inventor of astronomical clock with Hooke in the west) seven and a half centuries earlier. "
Fourth, today's pride.
Someone sarcastically said: Kaifeng people are often addicted to the pride of history. Think about it, our achievements today can't compare with the glory of history in any case. There are many reasons for this, so there is no need to sell yourself short. In fact, the pride of history is neither a capital nor a face mask. It should be an incentive, a driving force and a spur. From Su Song to Jiao Dayu, the invention always embodies a spirit of self-improvement, a spirit of being the first. If a Song Dynasty-style waterway platform is rebuilt as a landmark building of the city or placed in a tourist attraction, a tall statue of Su Song will be carved. I think the ringing of the bell must be more like a reminder and encouragement!