Bond time

the electric method of time recording

Donald Saff

pp. 45-45

in: Elisa Felicitas Arias, Ludwig Combrinck, Pavel Gabor, Catherine Hohenkerk (eds), The science of time 2016, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

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 timekeeping 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-nineteenth 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.