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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Thomas Tompion
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(1639–1713) English maker of clocks and watches whose mechanical brilliance, combined with the inventive genius of Robert *Hooke (the balance spring) and of Edward Barlow (the cylinder escapement), enabled English watches to become smaller, flatter and yet more reliable than others. Repeating watches (striking the recent hour or quarter-hour when a spring is pressed) and clocks that ran for a year without winding were other Tompion specialities. In 1676 he was appointed clockmaker to the new *Royal Observatory, where accuracy in timekeeping was essential.
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