en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz_clock
3 corrections found
As the advent of solid-state digital electronics in the 1980s allowed them to be made more compact and inexpensive
This dates consumer quartz miniaturization too late. Quartz wristwatches were already commercialized in 1969, and the key miniaturization and mass-market electronic advances happened in the 1970s, not only in the 1980s.
Full reasoning
Primary historical sources place the crucial compact, inexpensive quartz-watch breakthrough before the 1980s.
- Seiko's own history says it released the world's first quartz wristwatch in 1969 and continued making quartz watches smaller and slimmer through later innovations.
- The Japan Clock & Watch Association says the shift to electronic technologies for watches began in the 1960s, notes that the world's first analog quartz watch was commercialized in 1969, and that mass production lines and further electronics-driven expansion followed in the 1970s.
So it is misleading to say that the advent of solid-state digital electronics in the 1980s is what allowed quartz timekeepers to become compact and inexpensive. That process was already underway by the late 1960s and advanced substantially in the 1970s.
2 sources
- Our Heritage | Seiko Watch Corporation
On December 25th 1969, Seiko released ... the world's first quartz wristwatch. In 1974, they developed the slim Caliber 4130 ... and commercialized the first quartz dress watch.
- History of the Japanese Horological Industry | JAPAN CLOCK & WATCH ASSOCIATION (JCWA)
The shift to electronic technologies began ... for watches it began in 1960s ... In 1969, the world's first analog quartz watch was commercialized in Japan ... In 1973, the world's first digital watch ... was produced on a commercial basis.
the elimination of all moving parts
This overstates how quartz watches work. Many quartz timepieces—especially analog ones—still have moving parts, including step motors and rotors.
Full reasoning
Quartz regulation does not mean quartz timepieces have no moving parts.
Official Seiko materials explain that practical quartz watches required an IC and step motor to operate from the crystal oscillator, and that the first commercial quartz wristwatch used an open step motor. Seiko also states that analog quartz watches use magnetic force to drive step motors that move rotors.
So the quartz oscillator replaced the mechanical escapement as the time base, but many quartz watches and clocks still contain moving mechanical components in their display drive system. The statement would only be broadly true for some fully digital designs, not for quartz timepieces in general.
2 sources
- Quartz | Seiko Watch Corporation
To develop a quartz watch for practical use ... development of an IC and step motor ... Released on December 25, 1969 ... One of the major features of the watch was its step motion second by mounting an open step motor.
- How does magnetism affect a watch? | Seiko Watch Corporation
Analog quartz watches utilize the power of magnetic force in order to drive the step motors to move the rotors.
the more accurately time is known the more accurate the latitude determination
This confuses latitude with longitude. In celestial navigation, precise timekeeping is the classic requirement for determining longitude, while latitude has historically been much easier to determine without an accurate clock.
Full reasoning
Authoritative navigation references treat accurate timekeeping as the key to longitude, not latitude.
- NOAA explains that the best and simplest way to measure longitude from a ship was with an accurate clock set to Greenwich time.
- NASA likewise says that determining latitude has historically been relatively easy, whereas determination of longitude was difficult because it requires accurate timekeeping.
Given that context, the sentence's phrase "the more accurately time is known the more accurate the latitude determination" is incorrect; the navigation quantity improved by more accurate time is longitude.
2 sources
- What is longitude? | NOAA National Ocean Service
The best and simplest way to measure longitude from a ship was with an accurate clock. A navigator would compare the time at local noon to an onboard clock set to Greenwich Mean Time.
- Chapter 2: Reference Systems | NASA Science
Determining one's latitude ... has been relatively easy ... Measurement of longitude, however, has been a historically significant endeavor, since its determination requires accurate timekeeping.