"Time Balls, Telegraphy, Radio Signals, and Public Clocks: Astronomy and the Distribution of Synchronized High-Precision Time in Sweden, 1850–1920"

• This paper studies the production and distribution of accurate time in Sweden, a field where astronomy had substantial practical applications. Time-related astronomical expertise, instruments, and techniques aligned with commercial interests, navigation, and, more generally, the overall synchronization of daily life in the modern city. Precise time had both a practical and cultural value in the late nineteenth century; it was produced at central standard institutions such as astronomical observatories and state-run navigational schools, and was distributed through a network of telegraph wires, publically visible clocks, and time balls.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Idé- och lärdomshistoria (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- History of Ideas (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Teknikhistoria (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History of Technology (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Historia (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- History (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)