I N T R O D U C T I O N
His biographers tell us that as a teenager Henry Ford loved to mend pocket watches. Open- ing the backs of them and poking inside, peering at the world of gears, ratchets, springs, and balance wheels. The production of watches in mass quantity was one of the greatest accomplish- ments of the 19th century. Before giving himself to a life of automobiles, he knew he could build watches by the millions for 30 cents each but he thought most people wouldn't need one….
Today in the 20th century, Ford would find himself blown away at our world as it is run by the silent tick-tocking in everything from airplanes to ATMs. He would see that even on the modern clock that there is only a battery clip, plastic gears, and an oscillating quartz crystal. He wouldn't know where to start! Who would? The attitude now is, ``why bother!" His assembly-line techniques, which now are perfected, has led the world to believe that it is cheaper and more practical to buy a new one than to disassemble and repair. Is there a point in understanding how to fix a modern electric clock? One could grow old waiting for it to break…..
There is no one device that could represent the achievements of this technology-progressive century which gave us paper clips, airplanes, vacuum cleaners, atomic energy, computers, movies, jukeboxes, and cures. Or is there? Will the progression slow? Only time will tell if the minds of the future surpass those of the present.