This watch was made by Thomas Tompion, "the father of English watchmaking," in London in 1690. What else was happening in 1690? Isaac Newton was still alive. It was less than a century from Elizabeth I. As I stood still to draw, others walking past slowed to look at the collection of time pieces in the hallway and began talking about clocks and the age of navigation and discovery. I noted the time myself, by looking at my iPod - and thought about the effects of accelerating changes in everyday technology...