The History of the Pedometer

A pedometer is a device that measures the distance a person travels on foot. While current pedometers are precise electronic tools, this was not always the case. Actual pedometers are over 200 years old, and the concept of a pedometer still hundreds older. The purpose of them, however, has always been the same: give an accurate measure of just how much ground a person covers.

Concept

The original concept of a pedometer could be said to have been created by the ancient Romans. In paintings created by Leonardo DaVinci in the 15th century, a device is shown that was used by legionaires to roughly estimate how far the troops had marched in a day. However, the modern pedometer, or at least its great grandfather, is generally agreed to have been made in America.

Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson, the very same one who was the third president of the U.S., is generally credited with inventing the modern pedometer. Since he never applied for a patent on the device, however, it's mostly historical speculation. Sometimes referred to as a "Tomish meter," a pedometer was hooked to the belt of the person using it. Inside the device were weighted, metal balls that swung on a pendulum to measure distance traveled. The movement was generated by the swinging of the person's hips as they walked. This device, while not terribly accurate, did give a very rough estimate of how far someone had walked.

1930s

The pedometer was enhanced as technology improved, and during the 1930s it became much more popular. These pedometers still operated off the same basic principle of a moving pendulum to measure distance. In America the devices were popular with runners and with those who walked long distances. For the latter, pedometers were marketed as "Hike-o-Meters." The readings were still not very accurate, though.

Electronics

As more and more devices switched over to electronic operation during the computer revolution, the pedometer, originally an analog device, switched to a computer-operated form of record keeping. This meant that pedometers weighed less and could keep a more accurate could of distance traveled. However, even these pedometers paled in comparison to modern, digital pedometers.

Modern Pedometers

With all of the technology currently available, there are a variety of pedometers from which to choose. There are still the "standard" pedometers that hook onto a person's belt and count the distance traveled by sensing hip movement. There are also pedometers that use global positioning systems to give you an exact readout of your distance traveled. Even cellular phones and mobile music devices now have pedometer functions.

References

• Evolution of Pedometers