2025 Annual Meeting
The Pit and the Pendulum
Held at St. Mary-at-Hill Church, Lovat Lane, London EC3R 8EE, and online via Zoom, on Saturday 10 May 2025.
Horology was transformed in the year 1656, when Christiaan Huygens completed his design for the first practical pendulum clock. It was a shot in the arm for European clockmaking. For the first time, a clock could be considered a serious instrument of science. Since then, right up to the present day, pendulum timekeeping has been the focus of extensive research, development, and innovation. Pendulums have also been absorbed into the instrumentation of disciplines besides horology, notably in the Earth sciences.
In the 2025 AHS Annual Meeting, we heard a range of stories examining pendulums in science, technology, and everyday life.
In the first session, Edward Gillin explored the central role of naval expeditions in nineteenth-century British science, focusing on the cultivation of pendulums as experimental devices on ocean-going voyages. Next, Alexandra Rose examined the use of pendulum technology in nineteenth-century seismology, from registering earthquakes to probing the interior of the Earth. Then, Tabea Rude opened some black boxes of everyday technology, discussing the use of pendulums hidden in everything from railway signalling equipment to Edwardian time-switches.
After lunch, we held the formal AHS Annual General Meeting, at the end of which AHS President Patricia Fara hosted our annual awards presentation.
The afternoon session was opened by Edward Gillin (standing in for Daniel Belteki) and Wayne Ridgeway, who, with Carolyn Kennett, recently re-enacted George Airy’s famous Dolcoath mine experiments to measure the density of the Earth. Edward and Wayne described their experiences with an experimental pendulum in the nearby Rosevale tin mine. Next, John Haine outlined the work of a group of modern-day pendulum scientists, catalysed by the NAWCC’s Horological Science Newsletter, who work to reveal further secrets of this remarkable horological device. Finally, Andrew Strangeway explained scientific analysis of the world’s most famous pendulum clock, Big Ben.
Saturday 10 May 2025
MORNING LECTURE SESSION
10.00 Church doors opened for in-person attendees. Registration with tea, coffee and biscuits.
10.30 Chair’s introduction
10.35 Edward Gillin, Oscillations on ice: pendulums and the scientific culture of the Royal Navy, 1818–1860
11.10 Alexandra Rose, Pendulums in nineteenth-century seismology: from registering earthquakes to probing Earth’s interior
11.45 Tabea Rude, Hidden pendulums
12.15 Lunch
AGM SESSION
14.00 Annual General Meeting, followed by presentation of awards by Patricia Fara
AFTERNOON LECTURE SESSION
15.00 Edward Gillin (standing in for Daniel Belteki) and Wayne Ridgeway, The pit and the pendulum: a sensory account
15.35 John Haine, 21st-century pendulum science – alive and well!
16.10 Andrew Strangeway, Keeping Big Ben on time: analysing the world’s most famous pendulum clock
16.40 Closing words.
The AHS Annual Meeting 2025 was supported by the kind sponsorship of Sotheby’s.
