AN EERIE link between two 17th-century clocks has finally been explained, say
scientists who have retraced the work of Dutch genius Christiaan Huygens.
Huygens invented the pendulum clock in 1657, in an effort to solve the
problem of determining longitude at sea. In his design there was a pair of
clocks, so that if one stopped or needed cleaning, the other would still keep
time. The pendulums were suspended from a single frame, but were housed in two
separate cases, each weighted down to stop it from toppling over at sea.
But when he set them swinging, Huygens noticed something…
