Many historians have pointed to the significance of accurate time measurement to Western economic progress. The French historian Jacques Le Goff called the birth of the public mechanical clock a turning point in Western society. Until the late Middle Ages, people had sun or water clocks, which did not play any meaningful role in business activities. Market openings and activities started with the sunrise and typically ended at noon when the sun was at its peak. But when the first public mechanical clocks were introduced and spread across European cities, market times were set by the stroke of the hour. Public clocks thus greatly contributed to public life and work by providing a new concept of time that was easy for everyone to understand. This, in turn, helped facilitate trade and commerce. Interactions and transactions between consumers, retailers, and wholesalers became less irregular. Important town meetings began to follow the pace of the clock, allowing people to better plan their time and allocate resources in a more efficient manner.