[Telepathic Intruder]

It was timing, apparently, not computing power that was important here. The pendulum clock was invented in the mid 17th century, and was unrivaled in accuracy until the advent of the atomic clock. In any case, a computer is only as smart as the person who programs it. Mathematically, Isaac Newton could do with quill and parchment what any modern supercomputer can do. It would just take a lot longer.

[JAKraig]

While the pendulum clock was marketed in the mid 17th century it was actually discovered that a pendulum had a constant moment in the very early 16th century by Galileo and others. He started work on a clock but got too busy to finish it.

Pendulum clocks were extraordinarily accurate. While my living room grandfather clock loses about 1 minute a month the most accurate pendulum clocks lose about 1 second every 12 years.

It is amazing what people did in the past that we forget about now and think of them as backwards.