Louis, I have seen a photo of one of those rare decimal watches of 1794-95.
It is remarkably easy to read--much easier than our Babylonian analog clock,
which requires several years for young children to master. The numbers are,
in effect, decidays (large hand) and millidays (small hand), but I don't
think they were actually called that. What were the official names of these
units in the original legislation? And do you know why it failed so quickly?
Since watches were a new and costly item at that time, I have heard that
there was opposition from both clockmakers and middle-class folks who feared
that their expensive timepieces would be rendered obsolete. Is this true?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Louis JOURDAN
>
> if the decimal time had been so appealing to people, why did it not
> survive more 7 months (from 22 September 1794 to 7 April 1795)?
