Reflections

nature. It gave human enterprise the regular collective beat and rhythm of the machine.
And the first modern mechanical clock was invented by a monk who later became a
Pope.
Peeling of bells gave way to 'modern' clock towers in towns of the 13 th century. It
brought a new regularity into the life of the workmen and the merchants. It almost
defined the life in towns. And as Mumford put it, 'Time-keeping passed into timeserving
and time-accounting and time-rationing. As this took place, eternity ceased
gradually to serve as the measure and focus of human actions'. And in this working
order, he sees the origins of modern capitalism.
In due course, the clock became an embodiment of standardizations, automatic action,
accuracy and mechanical perfection in gearing and transmission, which contributed to
the success of quite different kinds of machines.
The division of an hour into 60 minutes and the minutes into 60 seconds gave a
framework of divided time within which most people thought and worked. And
abstract time became the new medium of existence. Organic functions got regulated
by it. And as Mumford puts it, 'one ate, not upon feeling hungry, but when prompted
by the clock; one slept, not when one was tired, but when the clock sanctioned it'.
Mumford also says that the orderly punctual life is not native to mankind and that
many eastern civilizations have flourished on a loose basis in time. However, he
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