Ian R. Bartky, Ph.D. will present a talk with slide illustrations entitled "Selling Time, Transforming Time in America" on Thursday, Nov. 16 5:30 p.m. at the New York State Library, 7th Floor Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Madison Avenue, Albany.

Prior to 1883 America lacked a uniform system to coordinate time. Many 19th Century astronomers, including those at  Albany's Dudley Observatory, sold time. In 1883 railroads established time standards to govern their operations, since railway safety depended upon regulating train movement through precise timing.

Dr. Bartky will show slides and talk about the people and politics involved in the effort to standardize time in the United States, which led to the invention of synchronized, self-winding clocks as well as to the distribution of precise time signals from the U.S. Naval Observatory via the nation's telegraph lines.

The program is FREE and the public is invited. Refreshments will be served.

The sponsors are the Friends of the New York State Library, the Friends of the New York State Newspaper Project, and the Society of Bibliophiles.