Rack striking invented The Reverend Edward Barlow is widely credited with inventing, 1676, the rack-striking mechanism, in which the striking of a clock is regulated by a rack-and-snail mechanism. It is possible that the development of this design came out of ‘an amalgam of ideas by Barlow, [Thomas] Tompion, [Joseph] Knibb and [Robert] Hooke’.[1] Rack-striking made the repeating clock possible. The design became the standard mechanism used in striking clocks going forward, right through to present day. End Note [1] Robey 2005, 17. Reference Robey, J. 2005. 'Who invented rack-and-snail striking? The early development of repeating and rack striking' in Antiquarian Horology, pp. 1–18. Image Credit Diagram of a rack-striking mechanism. Lexikon der gesamten Technik (dictionary of technology). Otto Lueger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
