Bond Time: The Electric Method of Time Recording

Saff, Donald

From the construction of the first marine chronometer in the United States and the innovation of accurate constant-force clock escapements, to the invention of the “Spring Governor” drum chronograph, the Bond family enhanced the accuracy of time keeping and perfected the distribution of time from the Bond's firm in Boston and the Harvard College Observatory. As a result of their enterprise, combined with the growing network of the telegraph, the “American Method” of transit observation advanced geodesy and positional astronomy. It also provided the mid-19th century burgeoning industry and the New England railroads, through the sale of time, the opportunity to maintain coordinated scheduling. The Bonds were pivotal at the nexus of science and business.

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