clockwork universe
- noun
- /ˈklɑkˌwɜrk ˈjunɪˌvɜrs/
- Formal
:
universo mecánico
- The idea of a clockwork universe has shaped our understanding of physics, particularly in the works of Newton.
Examples
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Deism—the Newtonian belief in a clockwork universe created by an external god—while popular among mainland intelligentsia, was unknown in the Tangier Islands.
Academic text (1994) -
But it's very much a sort of clockwork universe built by God with us at the centre of it.
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The designers may not realize that they are, in fact, using a clockwork universe view of the 19th century.
Academic text (1991) -
This clockwork universe has been the source of our existential anxiety for over 300 years.
Blog text (28) -
Niels: Once upon a time we believed we lived in a clockwork universe governed by Newtonian mechanics, cause and effect.
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See, Newton thought the universe was one big fucking clock—a clockwork universe.
Fiction book (1995) -
Much more can be said, but this is essentially the materialist view of our empty, mindless, clockwork universe, in which we are reduced to odd phenomena on a small planet in the vastness of cold and purposeless space.
Blog text (28) -
Many scientists once believed in a clockwork universe, where everything operated predictably like a mechanical clock.
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The concept of a clockwork universe suggests that all events in the cosmos follow precise laws set by a divine creator.
Synonyms
A set of ideas about motion and gravity based on Isaac Newton's work
Belief that physical laws alone explain living things and natural events
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase pairs 'clockwork' (a precise, mechanical mechanism) with 'universe', so a learner who knows both words can readily infer the metaphor that the cosmos functions in a regular, predictable, machine-like way. More specific philosophical details (e.g., deism or Newtonian determinism) are not directly conveyed by the words, but the core meaning of orderly, predictable operation is transparently derivable.
Etymology
Clockwork universe comes from the picture of the world as a big, precise clockwork with gears set in motion by God. So, if the world runs like a clock, everything seems fixed and very 'predictable', and the phrase now means the idea that nature follows strict, machine-like rules.
