The Synchronisation and Standardisation of Time (1830-1970): Technological Innovation and Public Policy

Clock-making has represented a fundamental sector for industrialisation, allow- ing a more precise division of labour and developing the competences for automa- tion, which was well understood by Charles Babbage. Besides precision, the prob- lems of synchronisation and standardisation have characterised the creation of the uniform time dimension. This paper proposes the history of these processes with a glance at their protagonists. Scientific progress, technological innovation, institu- tions and cultural frames co-evolved assuring a favourable frame to industrialisation. That was possible thanks to a synergy between astronomers and clock-makers as well as between inventors and railways. Even when exact time was made a public good, access to it was quite demanding in technological terms. The history of rail- ways let us understand how reliability and trust have been the crucial variables in the making of the industrialised society. Conventions and the passion of technicians with a faith in progress have been more relevant than the often disorienting action of governments or the uncertainty of market competition.