What if the mechanical clock had gone differently?

Weight-driven escapement clocks appear in European monasteries and towns.

If it had gone differently: Time stays local and approximate; there is no habit of measuring the world in exact, repeatable units.

1. 1600The Scientific Revolution, Natural philosophy stays deferential to the ancients; no method, no acceleration.
2. 1780The Industrial Revolution, Growth stays flat and Malthusian; most people alive in 1900 live about as their great-grandparents did.