In
addition to his in-depth research into the history of
DST, Dr. Prerau was a key contributor to the largest technical
study ever performed on the effects of DST.
He has coauthored three major U.S. Government reports to Congress on the effects of daylight saving time.
Dr. Prerau has recently acted as a consultant on DST to
the United Kingdom Parliament and also has been a consultant
to the U.S. Congress on a law extending daylight saving
time. He holds a Ph.D. from M.I.T.
As
an expert on daylight saving time, Dr. Prerau has appeared
on BBC TV One's BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio Four's
You and Yours, BBC Radio Five's Radio Five
Live, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio
Ulster and many other BBC broadcasts, Euranet Radio
throughout the European Union, The NBC
Nightly News, NBC's Today Show, ABC's Good
Morning America, CNN NewsNight, CNN
Headline News, PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,
CNBC's Morning Call, Fox Business Network's Money
for Breakfast, Bloomberg TV's Bloomberg on the
Economy, MSNBC's Countdown, NECN's Wired,
NPR's Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Weekend America,
Talk of the Nation, and Bryant Park Project,
Canadian CBC-TV's Your Call, Australian Broadcasting's
NightLife, Life Matters and several other ABC
broadcasts, Radio New Zealand's Morning Report,
and over one hundred other radio and television programs
in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, the United
States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,
and elsewhere.
Dr.
Prerau
has written Op-Ed pieces on daylight saving time for newspapers
including the New York Times and articles on
DST for magazines such as BBC's Who Do You Think You
Are Magazine and Discover. He has been interviewed
by newspapers and magazines in the United
Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia,
Brazil, and Japan, including The Economist, Financial Times,
the Associated Press, USA Today, Wall Street
Journal, Congressional Quarterly, New
York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago
Tribune, Toronto Star, Yomiuri Shimbun,
and over one hundred others.
He
has given numerous talks about daylight saving time, including
an invited lecture at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,
UK.
Dr.
Prerau first became involved with daylight saving time
when he worked as a researcher for the U. S. Department
of Transportation (DOT). At the DOT, he was a major contributor
to the most extensive analysis of daylight saving time
ever performed. This study examined the effect of daylight
saving time on energy usage, motor vehicle accidents,
crime, and many other areas.
While
immersed in the detailed analysis of daylight saving time,
he became intrigued by the subject. No one seemed to know
much about the history of DST, and he determined to find
out more about it. As he delved deeper into the story
of daylight saving time, he found that DST had caused
a great deal of passion and contention in the political
and scientific worlds for many years. And in addition,
he discovered a large number of remarkable DST incidents
and fascinating anecdotes.
Saving
the Daylight is
the result of Dr. Prerau's many years of research—gathering
information relating to daylight saving time from numerous
sources, including newspaper articles, government records,
legal documents, personal histories, and even cartoons,
songs, and poetry—yielding a enjoyable and exciting
book that presents an eye-opening look into all the many
reasons why we spring ahead and fall back
each year.
When
the U. S. Congress last was considering an extension
of the daylight saving time period as part of an Energy
Policy Act, Dr. Prerau acted as a consultant to the U.S.
Congressmen who sponsored the DST measure. The law, including
the DST extension, was passed. Most of the U. S. Representatives
and Senators who hammered out the final version of the
DST provision of the law had one
Dr. Prerau's books with them.
Dr.
Prerau has also met with several members of the United
Kingdom's House of Commons and House of Lords to advise
them concerning possible bills in Parliament to extend
British Summer Time. And when a Summer Time extension
was considered in Parliamentary debate, Dr. Prerau
and Saving the Daylight were cited several times.
Beyond.
his long association with and deep interest in daylight saving time, Dr.
Prerau is a senior computer scientist and knowledge engineer, specializing in artificial
intelligence. He is the author of two books and numerous technical papers on artificial
intelligence. He lives in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.A..
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