Wrong hands
Aditya Rishi

Taking mathematics from the beginning of the world to the time of Newton, what he has done is much the better half. — Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz

SWITZERLAND, that lush heart of Europe, raised thousands of fools for centuries before it became a nation of great watchmakers — timekeepers to the world. There was a time when no one in that country could make or repair a simple clock.

Z`FCrich is the heart of Switzerland. The elected Z`FCrich city government was ousted by Rudolf Brun in an artisans’ revolution in 1336, and replaced by a guild constitution for things to start improving. In the 16th century, Huldrych Zwingli brought winds of change to the city. In 1534, citizens of Z`FCrich decided to give the 9th century St Peter’s Church a new look by extending its tower and crowning it with a clock, not any clock, but something special.

Soon, the buzz went around Europe that the Swiss were going to make the biggest clock in the world and mount it on top of the church. Now, everyone who travelled through Europe wanted to visit Z`FCrich to see the marvel in making. The church became a prestige symbol for the nation. All countrymen would point towards Z`FCrich and say: "That’s where we’ll build the world’s biggest clock. It’ll be so huge that we’ll be able read it from as far as Berlin."

When the clock was finished, it was indeed the biggest one, but only in Europe; and it couldn’t be seen from even the border with Germany, save Berlin. Worse, the Swiss made a great mistake with the church clock of Z`FCrich. It was officially put into use when it showed 6 o’clock, but, soon, it was realised that the hour-hand and minute-hand had been interchanged and attached to the wrong axes. The result was that the minute-hand moved with a speed 12 times higher than the hour-hand.

The countrymen were shocked and disappointed. The clock was to be unveiled to the world at a grand ceremony that was just hours away. When the clock maker arrived, he said there was little he could do in such a short time, but he could tell the organisers when to unveil the clock so as the country’s reputation was not soiled. On the time he gave, when the strings were pulled to reveal the clock to the world for a brief moment, a remarkable thing happened: on the moment everyone read the clock, it showed exactly the right time.

"Was it magic that you did?" citizens asked him. "No, only mathemagic," he replied, "The problem was: if the clock started in the 6 o’clock position, then, what was the first moment that it showed the correct time again? I only had to calculate that moment to give you that time." What was the time when the reputation of Switzerland was saved? Write at The Tribune or adityarishi99@yahoo.co.in.