September 2012

Posted September 24, 2012

On Time: The Quest for Precision

For Immediate Release
September 24, 2012
Media Contact: Kimberly Allen, Director of Development
(816) 926-8792

"On Time: The Quest for Precision"
Exhibition Opening and Lecture
(Kansas City, MO)— How do we measure time? The new exhibition at the Linda Hall Library, "On Time: The Quest for Precision," explores the dramatic revolutions in time keeping from sundials and water clocks to today’s atomic clocks. Major advances, interesting alternatives, and innovative methods of time keeping will tell the story of our ongoing attempts to tell the time, precisely. Join us on September 27 at 6:00 p.m. for the exhibition opening followed by Christopher Ekstrom’s lecture, “What Time Is It Anyway?: Clocks, Timescales, and How the World Decides What Time It Is” at 7:00 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public; however, seating is limited and e-tickets are required. E-ticket registration is available at www.lindahall.org. For reservation questions, please email events@lindahall.org or call (816) 926-8772 to leave a message. Contact Eric Ward at (816) 926-8753 for more information on this and other upcoming events.

Dr. Christopher Ekstrom, chief of the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Advanced Clock Development Program, received the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association/U.S. Naval Institute’s prestigious Copernicus Award in 2009, for his work in the development and implementation of the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Rubidium Atomic Frequency Fountain clocks. These clocks will not lose one second of accuracy in 100 million years of operation. The clocks are also being used to facilitate the next generation of GPS satellites. Dr. Ekstrom received a B.S. in physics from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in experimental atomic physics from MIT.

The "On Time: The Quest for Precision" exhibition has been made possible through generous support from Dr. James and Mrs. Francie Flynn, the Burns & McDonnell Foundation, the J. B. Reynolds Foundation, and the Linda Hall Library Annual Fund. Christopher Ekstrom’s lecture has been made possible through generous support from Mrs. Linda Nottberg and the Linda Hall Library Annual Fund.

The Linda Hall Library, the world’s largest privately funded library of science, engineering and technology, is located at 5109 Cherry Street, Kansas City, Missouri. The Library, exhibition galleries, and William N. Deramus III Cosmology Theater are open Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. The exhibition galleries and William N. Deramus III Cosmology Theater are also open the second Saturday of each month 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology — Information for the World.
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