IN THE 16TH CENTURY Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and his contemporaries tried to use clocks for scientific purposes, yet even the best ones were still too unreliable.

• 16世纪时，丹麦天文学家第谷与他同时代的人希望把钟拿来做科学应用，不过，就算是当时最好的钟也还是不够可靠。