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Horology (via Latin horologium from Greek ὡρολόγιον, from ὥρα hṓra "hour; time" and -o- interfix and suffix -logy; literally "the study of time") is the art and/or science of measuring time. Ancient Sanskrit language has a similar word hora (होरा) meaning hour. This word is also used as a measurement of time.Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, hourglasses, clepsydras, timers, time recorders, marine chronometers and atomic clocks are all examples of instruments used to measure time. In current usage, horology refers mainly to the study of mechanical time-keeping devices, while chronometry more broadly includes electronic devices that have largely supplanted mechanical clocks for the best accuracy and precision in time-keeping.
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People interested in horology are called horologists. That term is used both by people who deal professionally with timekeeping apparatus (watchmakers, clockmakers), as well as aficionados and scholars of horology. Horology and horologists have numerous organizations, both professional associations and more scholarly societies.
Museums and libraries
There are many horology museums and several specialized libraries devoted to the subject. One example is the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which is also the source of the Prime Meridian (longitude 0° 0' 0"), and the home of the first marine timekeepers accurate enough to determine longitude (made by John Harrison). Other horological museums in the London area include the Clockmakers' Museum, which re-opened at the Science Museum in October 2015, and the horological collections at the British Museum, the Science Museum (London) and at the Wallace Collection.
One of the more comprehensive museums dedicated to horology is the Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland). The Musée d'Horlogerie du Locle is smaller but located nearby. One of the better horological museums in Germany is the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, in the Black Forest. The two leading specialised horological museums in North America are the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and the American Clock and Watch Museum in Bristol, Connecticut.
The eastern French city of Besançon has the Musée du Temps (Museum of Time) in the historic Palais Grenvelle.
An example of a museum devoted to one particular type of clock is the Cuckooland Museum in the UK, which hosts the world's largest collection of antique cuckoo clocks.
One of the most comprehensive horological libraries open to the public is the National Watch and Clock Library in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Other good horological libraries providing public access are at the Musée international d'horlogerie in Switzerland, at the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum in Germany, and at the Guildhall Library in London.
Another museum dedicated to clocks is the Willard House and Clock Museum in Grafton, Massachusetts.
Organizations
Notable scholarly horological organizations include: