Lecture Series: Time: Behind and Beyond the Clock

We set the alarm, we run to catch a plane, we celebrate birthdays, and we watch a fleeting sunset knowing the sunrise always comes too soon. We are creatures of our clocks, tick tick-ticking away. There’s never enough time in a day unless, of course, we’re waiting in line. Are we consumed with time, or is the time consumed by us? How do we define time?

Demetrios Matsakis, astrophysicist and retired Chief Scientist at the US Naval Observatory’s atomic clocks, will tell you straight out “You can’t define time”…but, he doesn’t hesitate to define a second - “it’s 9,192,671,770 periods of oscillation of an undisturbed cesium atom” by the way! Matsakis, now chief scientist at MasterClock, Inc., will take us on a journey through the fascinating history of time, the science behind its measure, and the technology of time transfer. Next, John Clark, CEO of Masterclock, Inc., will explore the intricate applications of time in diverse realms such as aerospace and defense, commercial enterprise, automation, and media. His company, Masterclock, Inc., is a small multimillion-dollar international company that builds timing systems synchronized to the Naval Observatory’s satellites. With Matsakis’ science and Clark’s entrepreneurship, they team up to provide precision timing for the world’s most time-sensitive users where a nanosecond difference can have catastrophic and/or astronomically expensive consequences.

Join us for the tales of two real-life time lords….it’s about time!