© Fatima Talib. All rights reserved. No part of

this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,

or otherwise, without prior written permission of Fatima Talib.

IMPORTANT This book has parallel stories to actual events with false names

of characters please do not tell of the stories as real with the names given in the book. References are given in back of actual

names and of any other possibly false information. Any other

resemblances of events or places are entirely coincidental.

Dedicated to:

My teachers for encouraging,

My parents for supporting,

And to those who braved the reading.

Fatima Talib is an 8th grade

student at Eastern Middle

School. Born in Udaipur

Rajasthan, India, she was 18

months old when she came

to America. She loves

reading and enjoys writing

very much and has a

growing love and interest in

technology and its history.

In this book, she strives to

make the concept fun and

easy for everyone to

understand as well as

appreciate.

The Creation of Inventions and the Discoveries

of Mysteries

Necessity is the mother of Inventions, they say, necessities such

as war and horrifying living conditions. So are accidents.

Accidents are just another name for “discoveries”, just like the

“discovery” of the New World. The wheel, the axle and the

lever were created by necessity for heavy objects, but what

about electricity? That’s one of the questions that will be

answered in this chapter.

Electrical Bracelet

Once upon a time, in Turkey in 600 B.C, there was a man named

Thales of Miletus. *It was his marriage anniversary day, and he was

walking through the town square rather panicked. It was almost 8:00,

time to go home and he hadn’t purchased a gift for his wife! He

couldn’t find anything in his budget and he was sure to be kicked

out of the house tonight. He sighed, at a loss for what to do.

Just then he heard a rather loud and rickety voice screeching

“Get beautiful amber necklaces on sale!”

“Sale!” he exclaimed.

He quickly went to the stall and asked to see the best of her

wares. The old woman smiled and shuffled over to a small bag that

jingled as she opened it. She rummaged around and then smiled as

she found what she was looking for. She shuffled back and placed

the necklace on the worn wooden counter. It was a beautiful amber

necklace with amber beads that were held in place by swirling gold

and silver cases that didn’t cover the whole bead. The beads were

large and it was all beaded onto a delicate gold string that looked

so fragile that it seemed as if it would be broken if a small breeze

touched it. He decided it was perfect for his fiery, beautiful wife. But

then he hesitated… It looked incredibly expensive, and he frowned.

The shopkeeper noticed and softly whispered, “Do not worry it

is only five gold coins.”

At that Thales grinned. He took seven gold coins out of his

pocket, and gave them to the woman and said, “Keep this from me

as a thank you gift, and a good afternoon to you!” The woman

smiled and waved good bye as Thales left. She grinned as she

hoped that the rest of the afternoon for Thales wasn’t as stressful as it

had been in the beginning.

****

Thales walked back grinning to himself happily. He had the best

present he could give his wife and it had only cost five gold coins! As

he put the necklace into his pouch and walked home, he didn’t

realize that the ambers were rubbing against the rough wool of his

pouch, and creating a result that would be the beginning of a

millennium of intense movement in science and technology.

****

As Thales reached his home, he happily reached out to knock

on the door but almost fell inside as his wife immediately opened the

door with an expectant face stuck outside.

Thales smiled and said, “It’s a surprise, you’ll have to give me

mine first!”

His wife’s face dropped into a sad pout, but she gave in and

opened the door to let Thales in. There was a merry fire in the

fireplace, and the two sat down on the floor close to the hearth. He

sighed as he looked at his wife, and reached into his pouch to take

out the surprise present, and yelped as a small bolt of static

electricity went through his hand.

He looked at his hand closely to see if it was burned or not. It

did not appear to be. He reached into his pouch again to take the

necklace out and the shock appeared again, only somewhat

slighter. He grabbed hold of it and pulled it out, minding to keep it

hidden in his hand as his wife took out his present. As she was busy

making it look nice he wondered about the shock he had received

from the amber.

What was causing it? He resolved to figure it out in the morning.

After that last thought, Thales spent the rest of his afternoon happily

exchanging gifts with his wife, unknowing that the next morning

would yield great results for him.

*The situation of an anniversary gift is not true, neither is Aphrodite, but the

finding of electricity through Thales rubbing the amber is true.

The Name

*So how did we get the name electricity? Electricity is actually

the Greek name for amber. This name was coined by William Gilbert.

William Gilbert is taken to be the Father of Electricity. Mr. Gilbert

wrote a very legendary book called De Magnete. Gilbert studied all

of the myths regarding magnets, and electrical phenomena. This

included clearing fuzzy understandings between the amber’s static

electricity and magnetic workings. He proved wrong the myth of

garlic altering the direction of magnetic compasses. He also showed

that the magnetic readings changed all the time because of Earth

spinning on its axis. Yet he never showed biasness towards either the

belief of Earth being the center of the universe and heavens, or Earth

rotating inside the heavens and around the Sun. One of Galileo’s

experiments, creating a powerfully armed Lodestone for one of his

patrons, was most probably impacted by reading De Magnete. The

Copernican followers or the people that believed that the Sun was

the center of the Universe, and that the Earth orbited around it were

using the magnetic proofs made by Gilbert to endorse and develop

the Copernican theory.

*All true.

*I was working on my light bulb. It had been going great, you

know, all the theories I had they were perfectly in place and it was

working! But there was this one problem. The light bulb darkened too

fast. I thought… What can it be? Was it the negatively charged

atoms?

Instead, I reasoned, I should go home and get a good night’s

rest so that I can think of the reason and a solution early tomorrow

morning. After all, I also have to run the tests! I went home, still trying

to think up ideas as to why the filament did not last… But before I

could get any ideas, the door to my home loomed in front of me.

I smiled as my wife Mary limped over to the door before I could

knock, and smiled broadly as she ushered me in. She hung my coat

onto the coat hanger, and as I was sitting down onto our sofa, she

brought out some fresh made chamomile tea, and fresh biscuits.

They were undoubtedly homemade.

I smiled at her, “How wonderful! You didn’t have to go through

all that trouble, especially when you are sick, my dear.”

She blushed at my praise, and replied, “Well honey, I thought

you were almost done with your light bulb thing and you’re so

excited, and since it apparently works, I wanted to make a pre-

celebratory something for you.”

I grinned happily, and gave the first bite of the biscuit and the

first sip of the tea to her, and said, “I’ll personally take you out to

dinner once I’ve finished this project, promise. And, I’ll try to keep

from doing a project immediately so that we can be together for

some time before I have to go again. There’s also your illness I’m

worried about.”

Mary smiled ruefully, “Honey I know you love doing this, and I

don’t want to take time away from it. How about I go to the

physician next door and see what’s going on, and tell you tomorrow

night. Just make sure you don’t overwork yourself.”

I looked at Mary carefully, and saw that she had black bags

under her eyes, and her bones were showing quite clearly. I knew

she was eating enough, so what could it be?

“Where does it hurt Mary dear? Can you tell me?” I asked.

Mary told me that her stomach hurt, and that she had these pink

dots showing up on her abdomen, and chest. I asked her a few

questions, and after I was done, I was anxious. It seemed very bad. I

would most definitely take her to the physician tomorrow myself.

“Mary, I am very worried, and therefore I shall not go to the lab

tomorrow, and instead I will go to the physician with you.” I said.

So the conversation continued, and the night wore on. Finally

at around 10:00 PM I got to sleep. The next morning, I woke up bright

and early, determined to go to the lab and find out what that pesky

problem is. I gave my sleeping Mary a kiss on the cheek, and left with

a small whisper of goodbye.

I arrived at the laboratory before anyone else, and

immediately starting trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. I knew

that there were negative electrons hitting each other

when the electric current was turned on. I think,

because the atoms were being recycled, and so

they…expired? So they hit the glass of the bulb,

making it black… It definitely sounds right… I think to

“release” the expiring atoms I can have a cooling

metal plate versus the previous heating plate I

already have, so that they atoms release their

energy, and die, allowing room for more atoms… That’s a good

theory! Maybe it will work! I should patent it… I called it the Edison

Effect.

So then I added a cooling metal plate, and voilà! It worked! I

had figured it out! I just needed to get the finishing touches in, and it

should be ready to work… Of course there is a lot of electricity used,

but it also comes out in a useful manner right? And then there are

the gas emissions of course… But better than fire and kerosene, I say!

Since it was after 11:00 P.M, (I know where does time go when you’re

having fun?) I decided to go home. I had to check on Mary, I didn’t

want her to have any problems, and I admit I was not turning out to

be a good husband.

I hurried home, and knocked at the door, when no one

answered, I yelled at the top of my lungs.

“Mary!” Still, no one answered. But a short moment later, I

heard some serious coughing. I grew scared, and knew immediately

that I would have to break the door.

“What a shame…” A voice said inside my head. But I frowned,

and continued on my decided course. It took a few tries, but I

succeeded in breaking down the door.

I rushed inside, and found Mary on the bed peacefully

sleeping. I breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the doorway

with my arms folded.

***

Later I found out that Mary had gone to the physician all by

herself, and had found out that she had typhoid. I was a very

worried by that, and found out that typhoid is a medium term

disease. It takes around three weeks for the symptoms to appear,

and patients usually get 103˚-105˚ fevers.

I kept Mary in bed for the next few weeks, and completely

postponed my light bulb for as long as it took. Mary

was very sick, and if her health was anything close to

bad before, it deteriorated hopelessly in a few days at

most. I stayed by her bedside, and only went to the

laboratory when absolutely important.

These were the times when I absolutely needed

a telephone. I did not want to leave Mary at the least,

but was wanted at work. So, as soon as I could, I

resolved to go buy a telephone, not considering the price. After all,

after I released the light bulb, I would be amid piles of money I

reasoned.

Then it struck me, if I released my light bulb right now, I might be

able to get money for Mary’s medical help!

I told Mary, who was in a drowsy state these days in her bed,

what I was going to do, and heard her murmur her consent. I ran out

the door as fast as I could, and to the laboratory. I called my head

assistant, Nikola and told him what I had planned.

I asked him where he had kept the light bulb. He replied, “I

have kept it where you last put it, sir. I was not sure whether you

would like it being moved or not, since it might be fragile. I have told

everyone to work around it, and not touch it.”

I grinned at my assistant, and gave him a light slap on the

back and said, “That is precisely why you are my head assistant

Nikola. Keep it up.” He led me to where the bulb was, and I

immediately tried turning it on. It worked beautifully, but a few

seconds later there was a blast of light and then it shorted out. Both

Nikola and I jumped, startled. I looked at the bulb, and saw that the

cooling plate was loose.

I asked Nikola to get my toolbox pronto, and within 30 seconds

it was in front of me. I set about carefully opening the screws of the

light bulb’s glass case, and carefully removed the screws attaching

the cooling plate. Then I got sharper screws, because the others had

gotten duller and were not fitting inside the holes. I screwed them in,

and since they were so incredibly small, I had to use my smallest

screw driver.

It took me two hours to get the cooling plate properly out of

the bulb, and then an extra half an hour to get the cooling plate

back in position, to where it was, and another 15 minutes putting the

screws into the holes. By the time I looked up, it was after sundown,

approximately eight o’clock.

*Light bulb facts true, private life untrue. Name of wife is true, as well as

death by typhoid, as well as symptoms. The dialogue is untrue, created by author.

*I was working as usual on my brilliant light bulb. But, every time

I turned the light bulb on, there were these photons jumping out at

the glass. They just wouldn't go to the other end of their "signal"!

What should I do? I thought at my laboratory, sitting after hours. They

needed a focus, but what is that focus? It needed to be magnetic

for the atoms; specifically, photons. Well, not necessarily right? There

was one thing common between all atoms, that negative was

attracted to positive. Of course once they met they would

technically leave in a burst of light, as the notion of quantum

mechanics goes towards. But what if I didn't use positive atoms to

attract the atoms towards the signal? After all I didn't want a

quantum explosion within a glass light bulb that would be really bad,

and would my whole house to a completely different level of energy

with it. I thought and thought as I went outside to have some fresh air

for a break. I came across two children playing outside. There was

one African child, and one white child. I could plainly see that they

were having a lot of fun when some rude shouting started ringing

through my ears.

I turned around to see what it was, and saw a white woman,

presumably the white child's mother running towards the child and

shouting to, "Get away from that black nigger Charlie!" I frowned at

the behavior, and was amused to see the child look grumpily

towards its mother, and frown. Then turn back and continue happily

passing the ball to and fro with his African friend.

Just as the African child was about to pass the ball back to the

white child, the mother caught up to where they were, and slapped

the African child, and yelled at him for "Having the guts to play with

[her] Charlie!" She bent down to her child and looked over him

closely, examining and cooing to him softly. I heard her ask if he was

okay, and whether the "nigger" had hurt him. The white child started

crying and the woman kissed his forehead, shooting the African

child a venomous look. I couldn't stand it anymore, and went over to

the African, who was sobbing gently and had a scared and

confused look on its face. It was as innocent as the white child had

been, and had done nothing wrong. I bent down and put the child

into my arms, where he sobbed freely. I hugged him, and whispered

softly to calm him down.

I asked the woman what the child had done, and she replied,

"He played with my child! Do you know how influential my family is? I

could've killed this child and not gotten in trouble. All I've done is

given him a slap that he deserved."

I looked at her in a confused way, and said, "I am nowhere as

influential as you, yet you can bear talking to me. What has this child

done, he doesn't believe in racial injustice as you do. He is as

innocent as your child. He deserves everything your child deserves.

What if it was your child being slapped by an African woman? How

would you feel? Would your heart not burn as every African mother's

does when she sees her child being whipped for no particular

reason?"

The woman huffed and puffed but had no answer. After wiping

her child's eyes, she rose up, took the child's hand and started

walking away. The child tried to resist, and reached its hand out

towards his African friend, but his mother continued pulling him

away, starting a new round of tears. After which the mother held him

in her arms to keep him from running away. I took the African child

with me to my laboratory having learned a perfect way to make my

light bulb work.

I put the child down, and asked him where his parents were. He

replied that they were in the nearby supermarket. I told him that I

would take him there right away. I set him off the stool and held his

hand as we walked towards the supermarket. As we walked I started

talking to him, and looked at him closely. He was a very handsome

species, with a straight nose, full lips, high cheekbones and a high

intelligent seeming forehead. I knew I would see him somewhere

when he grew up doing something big.

I asked him, "What do your parents do?"

He replied, "Oh, my parents are cleaners and servants at Big

Mother's house. They works from 5 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock

at night, but they's happy. They says the Big Mother keep ‘em in a

good place compares to their friends, the Johnsons. We's the

Blackwells. Do come meet us sometimes? We lives at Big Mother's

house too, in the servants quarters, mummy calls it. You do know

where Big Mother's house is, right? The house is two miles to the left of

the supermarket. It’s big and white, and it has lots of porches, they're

a brown color. You'll come wouldn't you?" he begged.

I smiled and said, "Of course I'll come. First let us find your

mummy and daddy. They must be really worried about you."

We went to the supermarket, and the first person that saw us

coming in was by fortune the child's mother. I guessed because of

his shouting, "Mummy!" I smiled as she looked at me with tears in her

eyes, and she fell to my feet thanking me. I told her to get up, and it

was no big deal. She went back to her child, and frowned, looking

worried as she saw a mark on the child's cheek.

"What’s this honey?!" she asked him, but all the child could do

was start crying, so she looked at me for a possible explanation. I

nodded, and she came over. I told her the whole story, and she

looked in horror at me and then back to her child, went back quickly

to get the child and hold him in her arms as he cried, rocking him

gently. I could see the tears beginning to course again from her eyes

as I finished. She thanked me for my efforts with a hoarse voice, and

repeated her child's previously given invitation to visit them. Then she

turned away, and quickly started walking towards a man I presumed

was her husband from the comparison of his looks and his child’s. I

saw the child go to sleep in his mother's arms, the day's events

already forgotten.

I turned back and started walking back to my laboratory,

thinking about what had happened. I had definitely learned

something from the ordeal. I knew exactly how to fix my light bulb

now.

The whole scene had started out with a white child, either

positive or negative charge, playing with a black child, an opposite

charge to the one being used as the white child. The ball was the

atoms. So, the point of this comparison was that, the atoms (the ball)

were not the dependent variables they were the independent

variables, so their change did not depend on any factor. However,

the signal, the dependent factor needed another factor. That factor

was a positive charge. I would need a positive charge versus a

negative charge, to “attract” the atoms. The fundamental law of

magnets is that “opposites attract”, therefore, a “negative” atom

would be pulled towards a positive charge! Therefore, if I had an

opposing charge, a positive charge for the negative one already

there, then I would need a holder for the positive charge.

I had it all figured out, and I had made a new…thing too…

What should I call it? I think I’ll go with, the Edison Effect. Maybe

patent it too…!

*Way Edison Effect works is true, as well as Thomas Edison. Way Edison had idea

is fiction, created by author. Dialogue is also fiction, created by author.

Humankind has always tried to measure time. The first

measurement of time that every culture had is the measurement of

noon, afternoon, midday, and dawn, morning, and meal times. The

calendar was the second. The Babylonians came up with the idea

that there are 360 degrees in a circle, giving the rest of the world the

idea, that in one circle (revolution) around the world, there should

be around 360 days. Therefore, becoming the first steps to the

calendar system. The Mayans developed the first calendars, ending

them at December 21, 2012, a date we've all come to know. Since

then, different cultures have developed different systems of

calendars, so that there is the lunar calendar, used by the Arabs,

and the Russians, the Gregorian calendar used by most of Europe

and America, and the Hindu calendar and the Chinese calendar,

the Julian calendar as well as the Vietnamese calendar. But humans

were also centered on precise times, and various cultures have tried

out their luck at a system for precisely measuring this illusion of time.

They've been trying since the 2nd millennium B.C. The first was the

water clock by the Arabs, then the sun dial by the Romans, and the

tower clock by the Chinese. The modern clock came along first in

1656 through the first pendulum clock created by a Dutch scientist

by the name of Christian Huygens. Since then, there have been

many different clocks created. There are the pendulum clocks, the

father clocks, two hand clocks, digital clocks, and watches, a

revolution which was also then integrated into cellphones and other

such portable electronic devices.

*The first "shadow clocks" were created by the

ancient Egyptians, and Mesopotamians. The latest surviving samples

date back to 1500 B.C. There are also books found that date back to

1290 B.C instructing how to create "shadow sticks". The first

measurement of time was probably done using the gnomon, a

vertical stick or pillar read using the shadows seen. The Egyptians

had large obelisks to use as sundials. These were usually put in the

middle of the town square. The obelisks were put into place making

sure that they were in line with the North Star for precise results.

There were cuts made into the ground indicating the times of day for

more accuracy. There were ten day hours, and two "twilight hours"

one in the morning, and one in the evening. The Egyptians had a

tool called the merkhet, the oldest used astronomical tool. Two of

these were put up in line with the Pole star, creating a north south

line. They were used to mark of nighttime hours by measuring the

other stars that went by the line created by the merkhets. The sun

dial ran on the belief that the Sun was the middle of the Universe.

But this was problematic, as revolutions around the Sun

were done in decimals, and not a whole number. Therefore, the

dates changed, and things such as daylight savings occurred, yet

there was no way to count those with the sun dial. This eventually

became extremely problematic in the year 46 B.C, the year of

confusion in Julius Caesar's reign of Rome. There were days being

celebrated not in their traditional season, i.e. in winter, but instead in

summer. This was fixed by Julius Caesar, and with the help of the

newly made Julian calendar, Christiaan Hugneys made his famous

pendulum clock.

*All true

*It seems so obvious to us. There are 365.25 days in a year. Big

deal, we just measure the amount of days it takes to send us around

the Sun, right? After all, a year is a single revolution around the Sun.

But the question arises, how exactly do you know how long a day is?

How do you know it really is twenty four hours? If you didn't establish

how long a minute is, how would you establish an hour? And if not

an hour, how then a day, a month, and how would you establish a

year? Those were the question people had to deal with before

clocks were created, before they could measure anything. For

measurement of distance, the Greeks did not have rulers, they had

their feet. That was their basic unit of measurement. Yet they made

the most amazing architectures seen in the world; something that

we're still trying to figure out using our high-tech equipment.

So, who was the genius that figured out how to use a year? It

was King Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar was one of the most

popular, and well known kings of Rome, and the world.

*All true

*In Rome, everyone was really confused. The times that they

used were not precise enough. The dates that they had been using

for some time, such as three kings day was in winter. But it had not

been in winter in the past few years. In fact it had been in summer!

Why were the dates so messed up? They still celebrated it on the

same day. But it would not work. So, King Caesar used the help of

one of Cleopatra’s astronomers, and added two more months to

the year 46 B.C, making it the year of confusion, and giving it 378

days instead of the actual 365. But these extra 13 days helped bring

the year back into order. After that, Caesar’s astronomers helped

create the 365.25 day calendar, now called the Julian calendar. This

discovery has helped the theories of time ever since, and helped

perfect the clock.

*All true

Everyone uses time, has used time, and will continue for as long

as there are organisms on this Earth. All species have their own

concept of time. Humans created clocks for the most precise

timings. We all know how to read time, but no one really knows how

the process of clocks works. What makes the gears tick as the time

goes by? What is that force? We will explore that hear with our Hero

of Time, Dutch scientist, Dr. Christiaan Huygens.

I was working in my lab, still making telescopes and

microscopes. I was bore; I needed something more, something that

had not been done yet; a challenge. I thought of what that could

be. Could I challenge myself in a topic that I wasn't too focused on,

such as literature? Maybe I could write a book. Nah, I thought.

Something very challenging in a field I knew as well as the palm of

my hand. I needed to do something in science. There were a lot of

things the world did not know of yet, such as a precise way of

measuring time.

Just as I was thinking, one my close friends came up next to

me, with a newspaper cut out.

He said, “Christiaan! Look what they have in the newspaper!

I grinned at my friend, and gave him a big hug, thanking him.

I said, “Thanks man, I needed something like this. It’s perfect!

I was thinking about doing a challenge. Making these telescopes

and microscopes is boring. All you have to do is change the designs

outside, and change the magnifying levels. I used to do this for

bigger industries when I was a little kid. I need to do a challenge

something of my own. Something that will give me a higher status,

Offering 1000 f for engineer.

Need someone to create a non-human effort using clock, must be

mechanic. Need it done within one

week at most. Also will get rights to invention for patenting and

selling.

and will help me gets higher as an engineer. You know what I

mean? I actually want to do something for us, for humankind." My

friend nodded, a bit overwhelmed.

I grinned at him, "Sorry. I got a bit overboard there didn't I?" He

nodded uncertainly. I thanked him, and he left the newspaper cut

out with me. I looked it over, and saw the address the advertiser had

listed;

I went to the given address, and knocked at the door.

A pretty girl answered and said, “Hallo”

I replied with the greeting, and said, "I am answering the

advertisement given out by Mr. Vries?

The girl replied, "Yes, what about that?"

I said, "I would like to take part."

The girl replied, "Of course you may, but unfortunately, my

Vader forgot to post that this is a nation-wide competition."

This made me even more excited, and so I asked, "I agree to

the terms then, and one more question,"

"Yes?"

"There are more people competing right?" I said grinning.

"Of course," The girl grinning, "there are ten participants as of

now. I would advise of you to go back to your lab, as I presume you

have one, now, since your time has started...now."

I said a quick goodbye, and ran as fast as I could back to the

laboratory. The girl had been wrong; I did not have my own

laboratory...yet. But once I had won the competition, as I was

certain I would, I intended to make my own laboratory and carry out

House #12 St. Paul’s St. Hjraalen,

The Netherlands

more experiments, and help more people. Besides, then I could woo

the girl as well. I smiled to myself.

I rushed to the director's office, and asked for a one week

leave.

He looked up startled, and asked, "Why on Earth would I give

you one Christiaan?"

I replied, "Because I'm taking part in a nation-wide clock

making competition, and the winner will get 1000 f as winning prize,

as well as patenting and selling rights. I am sure to win, and if I win, I'll

give you a...35% profit in the money I'll make after selling the clock

commercially. How is that?"

My boss mock-glared at me, "Only 35%," he said, "If you want to

get a one week leave, then it will cost you 40% profits my boy. After

all, you're the best engineer we have here. No one works on a rate

as fast as yours here," he grinned, "Tell you what, you can go right

now." I thanked him, winking as I left. I ran down the street and went

to my small ocean side apartment. I immediately got out my

toolbox, and a picture of my mother in front of me, and sat at my

balcony in my yoga position thinking about how I would do this.

First, I thought about what would definitely be needed in a

mechanical clock. There are a few basic things that are going to be

needed to make any mechanism work,

A force

Friction to make the force not go too fast

Something to measure it with, a plate with marks on it

And the markers themselves.

There were 365.25 days in a year, and 24 hours in a day. So,

how long was an hour, and how long smaller markers to make sure

that the hours were on time? I would have to figure all that out. So I

set about doing just that. Doing that took me around two or three

hours, after all, it was basic algebra.

In the end I had it all figured out. There were 60 minutes in an

hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. If there were 360.25 day in a year,

then it was about 360 days a year, a circle. I thought; why not make

it a circle shape? It would definitely beat all of those boring square

shapes that all the other inventors would bring. It also related to the

theme, I smiled to myself.

After that, I had to think about what I would need next. I

thought about the force, it would have to be something that kept

the gears moving. A brilliant idea hit me. What if the force was a

pendulum? Its swinging motion would keep a potential energy there.

It's swinging would also keep the gears constantly moving, making

human efforts non-necessary! It was perfect. I would have to use a

timer and a precise amount of weight to make the pendulum. I

would also need proper fitting gears to make them run smoothly. I

would need to measure the lot. But for that, I would have to start

with one object's measurement.

I decided that I would go with the measure of the pendulum.

That way I could measure the weights of the gears that I would

need, and design the outsides.

I realized that I would also need a chain, or something like

a rope to connect the pendulum onto the gears. They would have

to be connected, or they would have to have an indirect pathway.

Hmm... I thought how about I connected the pendulum to the gear

that will move the "hands" as I had started calling the little markers of

the plate that the marks would be on. Since there were twelve hours

of day and night coming together to make the 24 hours total, I

decided to make 12 total marks, and then since I had 60 minutes in

an hour, I would divide the 12 into five part, so that five*twelve would

beget 60 minutes total.

I had all of my calculations done, all I had to do now was get

my parts, and measure the weights and sizes, put them together,

and I was done! It took me four days, out of the remaining six days I

had to get the inner parts of my clock ready. After that, I had to

design the outsides of my clock. I wanted to do a vintage look, so I

decided with wood. It was also the cheapest thing I could get. After

the other purchases, out of the 500 f I had, I was only left with a minor

100. I had to get the best decoration I could, not gaudy of course,

with the least amount of money I could muster. For myself, I only had

200 f that I could spend. My deadline was also coming up fast.

I finished up the inner workings all tonight, and went to

meet up with one of my old time friends. Someone I knew would do

anything for me. I got to his wood carving shop by 6:30, a time I

knew that he does not get too many customers in. I knocked on his

specially carved mahogany door, and went straight on in. I found

him sitting on his stool aimlessly staring at the floor. All of the days’

projects done, sitting on his table, and if they were too large, then

they were sitting on the floor. There was a large intricately carved

door, a bust of a man’s head, a small structure of swirly lines ending

on a ballerina poised on the tip of a swirl, and other such intricacies.

He stood up as I approached, and I showed him the

clock, which I had been carrying in a sturdy burlap bag with some

packaging so that it wouldn’t be knocked dead by swinging against

something as I ran to his shop. Leon looked startled as well as curious

as I took out my contraption.

In a hoarse voice he asked, “What in Earth’s name is that

Christiaan?”

I replied, “It’s a clock. Something everyone will be using once I

win a competition. I want you to make a cover for it. Just a flat

cylinder, it should cover the whole contraption, and have a space

for a keyhole in the back, which you will also make, and a large hole

as the top base. I want a two stopper holes on the top part of the

lateral face of the cylinder, and… Oh yes, a make two small cylinder

with the bottom base having a small hole as well, and the bottom

part of the cylinder’s lateral face should have two small legs as a

stand.” When I was done giving the details, Leon as looking

completely overwhelmed and had wide eyes staring at me in

disbelief. Now, I had suspected something like this, so I had created

a diagram of the case for Leon. I showed it to him now, and he

sighed in relief.

“I thought I would never be able to understand the first

sentence you said there, Christiaan!” he exclaimed.

I grinned at him and said, “Do not worry Leon. I am not

completely oblivious to how other people think.” Leon smiled at me,

took the diagram and asked all the necessary questions that carvers

must ask. Such as, what type wood do you want? Should it be rough,

or smooth, what type of design do you want on the sides, Victorian

or Greek basic, and all else? I answered all of his questions, and

asked him when he would be done.

He replied, “I…should be done by tomorrow at 12 o’clock.” I

thanked him with a smile and left, thinking of the good night’s sleep I

would get tonight.

I reached home, and went straight to sleep. When I woke up in

the morning, I saw it was 12:30, so I went straight to Leon’s shop, and

asked him for the clock. He smiled at me, and returned to his table,

looking around for the clock. I almost thought he could not find it

when he returned with it safe and sound. I sighed in relief, and

looked closely at the case. It was a real beauty. Now all I had to do

was put the clock into the case, and make sure it worked.

I thanked Leon, and went straight home, not smiling yet,

knowing that there was more to do and that I could not celebrate as

yet. When I got home, I attached the rope to the pull string hole,

and gear so that when I pulled it the potential energy turned into

kinetic energy and so the process happened to every gear keeping

them constantly moving. I attached the rest of the parts and fitted

them into the clock’s wooden case.

After I was done, I cautiously pulled the pull string and…it

worked! I was so happy I could’ve died right there. Such a needed,

such a revolutionary invention, and I had made it. Not just that, I had

made it within five days! I started crying, happy and sad tears. I was

happy that it worked but extremely sad that I did not have anyone

to share with. My whole family was either dead, or if they were alive,

I did not know about them.

After I had finished my little celebration, I headed off to the

advertiser’s home again. I was met with the girl I had talked to last

time, and she saw the bag in my hand, and gasped.

“You actually made it?” she exclaimed.

“Of course I did.” I grinned.

“Vader will be so glad.” the girl said, leading me to her father.

She took me to a deep room, which I guessed was her father’s

study, and introduced me to her father.

“Vader, this is Christiaan Hugneys, one of the competitors for

the competition we had set up.” Mr. Vries looked me up and down,

judging me. He himself had white hair sprinkled with quickly

disappearing pepper gray hair. A tall and broad man, with a slight

swoop I guessed was the result of older age, though he was still a

good 5-6 inches taller than me.

I started taking out the contraption, and put it on his desk. His

eyes widened as he saw it, and I had a feeling that somehow he

already knew how it worked and what it was. I looked at him,

startled. He took it into his hands, and saw the hour, minute and

second hands ticking about. He shook his head up and down every

time a second went by.

He looked up from my contraption with great difficulty to look

at me, and said, “You have done it Mr. Hugneys. I congratulate you,

and here is your 1000 f, as promised.” As soon as I took it, he sat back

down in his chair, staring at the book he had been reading earlier. I

looked at the girl, confused, and she gestured for me to come with

her. I obligingly followed, and she led me back to the front door.

“Thank you very much. You have made my father very happy.

It was his dream to see this, to be able to measure time. You made

him very content…very satisfied. I would advise you to commercially

sell this clock and make a profit, and help the world measure time.”

With that, she shut the door in my face, and I never heard of the

Vries ever again.

But as for me, I did sell the pendulum clock, as I called it, and

made lots of money. I did give 40% of the shares to my boss, and

returned to my job for a while too… Until I realized that there was no

point, so I retired early and enjoyed my wealth until I died. That is the

story of my pendulum clock and I.

*All true except for the newspaper ad, the Vries, Leon and his shop, and the

dialogues and thoughts in this story.

Ever since then, there have been many new types of clocks

made; quartz clocks, atom clocks, and digital clocks, but they all use

the same idea. So we thank Dr. Christiaan Hugneys for his

contributions in the field of time.

There have always been multiple ideas behind every

revolutionary invention. The only difference between the inventors

and us is that they were always introduced to the revolutionary

ideas; we need to go look for them. Never be discouraged, always

go ahead, no matter what comes in your path. You will be able to

gain your final destination if you work for it.

This was the starting of the world of inventions, the first

revolutionary things that came along.

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