Alarm Clocks That Worked With Water Not Batteries
Ever heard about “The Alarm Clock of Plato,” which by the way happens to be the first waking device in history? It may sound unbelievable but the ancient Greeks had alarm clocks way before modern technology “invented” them. Despite their love of logical rigor, our ancestors weren’t always precise in the ancient world. And that’s pretty normal if you take into consideration how they had no access to precise time-keeping. However, some people didn’t like to break their promise and most likely Plato was one of them. Apparently, the legendary philosopher had to find a way to be consistent with his students, in order to teach them the secrets of ancient Greek philosophy at a certain time every day. Unsurprisingly, he was the one who invented the first alarm clock in history.
For the ones who may not be familiar with him, Plato is one of the world’s most famous and studied philosophers in history and he’s known for being the most notable student of Socrates, while he would later become the teacher of Aristotle. There are many levels of controversy regarding Plato’s works and in what order he wrote them, due to their antiquity and the manner of their preservation throughout the centuries. Regardless, his earliest works are generally regarded as the most reliable of the ancient sources on Socrates.
The great philosopher is also remembered for designing the first alarm clock in the shape of an hourglass. The upper, ceramic vessel was the “reservoir” of the calculated water, which supplied water through a pipe to the next vessel and from there a programmed time evacuated the water through an internally located axial pipette to a next, closed vessel. When water was forced into the closed vessel, it forced the contained air to whistle through a tube at the top, making a sharp, annoying noise capable not only of waking you up but also of driving you crazy. Obviously, if you’re as smart as Plato you don’t have to worry about batteries and electric-powered devices.