Video recordings of lectures are available immediately to HSNY members, and the general public with a two-month delay.
PLEASE NOTE JUNE’S LECTURE WILL begin at 6pm.
Jack Forster, Global Editorial Director, The 1916 Company (New York, New York)
The world of horology, of timekeeping and calendar reckoning, is based on the assumption that in the world around us, there are orders that can be reflected in watches and clocks. This includes everything from the simplest precision timekeepers, which rely on the stability of mechanical, electromechanical, and quantum oscillators, to highly complex calendars and calendar systems that reflect cycles in the physical universe, including the motion of astronomical bodies. Beginning from an examination of the simplest ideal classical oscillator – a pendulum with a massless rod, swinging in a vacuum on a frictionless bearing – this lecture will look at the gaps between ideal systems and their physical manifestations.
At the June lecture of the Horological Society of New York (HSNY), Jack Forster, Global Editorial Director of The 1916 Company, will look at factors affecting the stability of oscillators and also at the behavior of longer natural cycles that determine the structure of calendars. In both cases, the great challenge is for horologists to understand that it is fundamentally and axiomatically impossible to ever duplicate the behavior of idealized systems – but the challenge is to get as close as you can. What connects the simplest and the most complex horological mechanisms, is their attempt to capture the ideal – whether an ideal oscillator or a perfectly harmonious calendar – in a mechanical form.
*Doors open at 5:30 PM ET, lecture to begin at 6 PM ET. RSVP is required.
** The lecture video will be available to members immediately, and to the general public following a two-month delay.
PLEASE NOTE JUNE’S LECTURE WILL begin at 6pm.
About Jack Forster
Jack Forster has been interested in watches, clocks, and the problems involved in precision timekeeping for many years. He has written for numerous publications, including The 1916 Company, Hodinkee, Forbes, Vanity Fair, and many others. He is the author of several books, including Cartier: Time Art; Accutron: From The Space Age To The Digital Age; Watches: A Guide By Hodinkee (contributor and editor); MING: The Quest For All Positions; and an upcoming history of the first 100 years of the Citizen watch company.