On Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 3:34:04 AM UTC-7, Mikko wrote:

Sand and water clocks are too inaccurate to detect the variation in
duration from one noon to the next.

That may be, but using an atomic clock instead would involve the exact same
principle, so it doesn't affect his point. He just chose to use a...
traditional... example of a mechanical clock, perhaps in reaction to what he may
feel to be a recent trend towards glorifying technology.

John Savard