Monday, March 12, 2007 12:54 PM CDT
Studying the effects of Daylight Saving Time
By DAWN SCHABBING, Staff Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
Even the daylight-saving time date is springing forward.
Daylight-saving time began at 2 a.m. today, when we remembered to "spring forward" one hour. This year, daylight-saving time came about three weeks earlier than it has in the past because of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which took effect for the first time.
Daylight-saving time increases the amount of daytime hours, making the summer days longer than the winter days. It has been a part of U.S. history since World War I, when it was put in place as an energy conservation measure.
Though Benjamin Franklin coined the phrase "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," he didn't always practice what he preached, said David Prerau, who wrote a book about daylight-saving time.
"Seize The Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time" (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2005) was written by Prerau, a Boston resident, who became interested in the history of daylight-saving time while working as a researcher for the U.S. Department of Transportation, when he contributed to the largest study ever on effects daylight-saving time.
He also worked with members of Congress as a consultant when the extension of daylight-saving was being considered in 2005.
"While looking into DST - how it affected energy, motor vehicle accidents, crime and other things - I became curious of the history of daylight-saving time, and I found that nowhere was it published," said Prerau.
Prerau, a senior computer scientist and knowledge engineer, collected information about the history of daylight-saving time and then compiled the information into a book.
"Its history goes all the way back to Benjamin Franklin. There was a lot of contention along the way, throughout its history."
Franklin first thought of this measure, as was written in his 1784 essay "An Economical Project."
"At that time, Benjamin Franklin was living in Paris and was the U.S. ambassador to France. He attended a lot of late-night parties and diplomatic events, and he would sleep late," said Prerau.
In the introduction to his book, the author wrote that in 1784, the 78-year-old Franklin was an author, scientist and statesman. His attendant had forgotten to close the shutters one night, and the bright sunlight awoke him.
"Had he risen at noon, as usual, he would have slept through six hours of sunlight. In exchange, he would have been up six additional hours by candlelight that evening," Prerau wrote.
This discovery of the amount of daylight he was wasting made Franklin realize that the economy could benefit by using sunlight instead of candles each day.
"He realized he was lighting his house all night with expensive candles, when he could be using the sunlight," said Prerau.
Daylight-saving time began during World War I in some countries to conserve energy. The idea began in Germany and Britain and was used off and on by the United States into the 1960s, when Congress standardized the start and end dates for states that participated.
In 1974, daylight-saving time again was signed into law by President Richard Nixon as a way to conserve power during the energy crisis of that era.
"During the transportation study, we found that daylight-saving time reduces electrical energy uses, it reduces traffic accidents and fatalities, it reduces outdoor crimes and it gives a lifestyle that benefits most people," said Prerau. "Most people prefer to have the extra hour of daylight."
And the reason Americans switch back in the fall is a compromise for those who don't like the daylight-saving time method, he said.
Dawn Schabbing can be reached at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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 Kevin Kilhoffer (JG/T-C)
Traffic moves along Route 16 west of Charleston in the twilight Wednesday evening. Soon, motorists will have an extra hour of daylight in the evening.
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