Category Archives: Science and Spirituality

Avoiding Contention and Building Faith

Science and Spirituality, ,

Knowing that the devil “is the father of contention” (3 Nephi 11:29) and the great deceiver, there are significant ways to reduce contention and increase faith. We are promised we will not be deceived as we “treasure up his word” (JS-M 37).

Contention can be proven false, because it is of the devil. Then we can move on to what is true. We can use an essential Law of Heaven to learn God’s TRUTHS; “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8). Living that law builds faith and opens the door to TRUTH and LIGHT, and removes contention and deception.

Truth and Light

I use three criteria in my search for TRUTH and LIGHT.

1.       If God says it, I know it and I will not be deceived (JS-M 37).
2.       A theory or hypothesis cannot be proven true; we don’t know enough. Only God knows enough. And
3.       A theory or hypothesis can be proven false if one has reliable falsification data.

For me, these are very powerful tools in my search for TRUTH and they can significantly ameliorate contention—moving a person out of darkness into truth, light, and liberty (John 8:12, 32, 36). We know Christ is the “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Can Organic Evolution Be Proven False?

In Chapter 6 of my first book, It’s About Time—using the best scientists on the planet and their books and data—I share the proof that the theory of organic evolution is false. This has enormous consequences since this false theory has permeated the world’s education systems and atheism has increased as a result–causing a lot of contention and deception.

Organic evolution is being taught in some classes at BYU—my alma mater.  Also, on the BYU campus, in the Bean Museum, there is a permanent model of the evolution of man from lower forms of life. This shows the secular influence on this, the main university of my church, and this has brought about a lot of contention and deception there.

When I went to BYU, I was fortunate to be taught by Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Chauncey C. Riddle.  When I took a class from him back in the 1950s, he used the Book of Mormon to prove the evolutionary theory false. Unfortunately, students who are attending BYU as believers in biblical “Creation” have turned into “Atheists” because of professors teaching organic evolution.  This is a serious problem at BYU, but it is much more serious at non-religious educational institutions.

Atheism

Because of the increase in atheism, more are believing the Bible to be a myth. I share below how atheism can be proven false. And if there is no fall of Adam and Eve, then there is no need for Christ’s atonement to overcome the effects of the fall.  Hence, organic evolution is anti-Christ.

Joseph in Egypt and the Prophet Nephi foretold of the Bible being disbelieved in our day (1 Nephi 13:38-41; 2 Nephi 3:11). But the Lord knows the end from the beginning and also prophesied that the Book of Mormon would come forth in a needful time, and one of its many missions was to give validity to the scriptures—opening the door to those who have lost faith to come back to the beautiful truths of God. Next, I will show you how it does this remarkable thing.

Trusting the Validity of Scriptures

In my research, I have found evidence of 1,800 phrases that tie back to the language of Adam and provide undeniable validation of the scriptures. The Book of Mormon has been the main tool that led me to these insights, as I have exercised the above Law of Heaven. [Don’t Bypass “And It Came To Pass” | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com)] I am pleased that LDS Living also picked up on this: [The Powerful Book of Mormon Phrase We Always See but Never Think About – LDS Living. That these 1,800 data points are distributed as they are throughout our scriptures provides this validation. It could not be thus except by Divine orchestration. Search them out and see for yourself–how they are used and by whom they are used.

There are several others who provide compelling evidence that the scriptures are true. The great historian, Flavius Josephus, is a great example. Dr. John Lennox is an incredible and very likable Christian apologist. I believe, if all Christians and their leaders, took a firm stand on the validity of the scriptures and shared the above information, it would help increase faith in the world and reduce contention and deception. Also, see remarkable evidence showing that we can “Trust in the Lord.”

Another Contentious Issue

Another contentious issue I see in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is regarding Book of Mormon geography: Heartland vs. Mesoamerica. Many say it doesn’t matter, but the Lord says it matters greatly (Ether 2:8-12). In this scripture, the Lord declares emphatically regarding North America, “that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them.” It is critical that Americans repent, and turn back to the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ, or this nation will be destroyed. This message should motivate every American to repent and come to Christ.

Using criteria 3 as mentioned above, using reliable falsification data, I share proof that the Mesoamerica theory is false in this blog post:   Where Does The Book Of Mormon Really Take Place? It only takes one reliable falsification data set to prove a theory or hypothesis false; I found eight!

In the December 2012 issue of the Ensign, Elder L. Tom Perry stated, “that the United States is the promised land foretold in the Book of Mormon.”  In addition, President Russell M. Nelson has stated:

“The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when the land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant. Because… Joseph’s inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. It was chosen not because of its beauty or wealth of natural resources, but because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. Choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was chosen because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments. (President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Yes, Mormons are Christians, Legends Library [2017]).”

It is evident that North America is the only location that fits the criteria for where the Book of Mormon account took place. I would love to see the world come to know the great value of the Book of Mormon and of its “promised land” geography. Just like knowing the geography of the Bible helps, I believe knowing the Book of Mormon geography would help remove contention and confusion in the Church membership and especially at BYU where many of the religion professors believe and teach the Mesoamerica false model. It is interesting that the Book of Mormon mentions Christ five times more often than the Bible!

Two Major World Contentions

1. A major contention in the world is that Satan is leveraging all he can with the GLBTQ+ confusion and conflict.   The conflict takes people away from Christ, especially young people.

I believe that if we were more focused on the first two great commandments, our loving example would shed the needed light on those who have lost faith to help bring them back–being valiant loving Christians. Believing in Christ is one thing, but being changed by the grace of His infinite atonement is a life-changing thing. Being born-again Christians, as our scriptures teach us, is TO BE ONE WITH HIM, BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT! (Mosiah 27:25; Alma 5:14; 7:14; John 3:-3-5; and 1 Pet. 1:23). , My new book proclaims the same—BE BORN AGAIN.

2. The Critical Race Theory is another source of contention. For those advocating “the critical race theory,” there is a beautiful scriptural solution. Each of us is of infinite worth as children of Divine offspring. (Acts 17:2-29) Judging others leads to this contention. Let us not judge and let us bring out the potential goodness in others and help them develop their God-given gifts. Let us be color-blind to race as the Lord has asked us to be. Everyone is important, and putting others down is totally contrary to the Christian ethic of loving your neighbor.

Two Unknown Book of Mormon Miracles

The year 2017 was a very eventful year with a total solar eclipse passing over America over seven cities by the name of “Salem,” which means peace in Hebrew, and on 23 September the 12th Chapter of Revelations was played out in the heavens.

Most don’t know that the historical data show that it should have taken over 22 months to type-set and print the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon, when, in fact, it happened–miraculously– in less than seven months, and some scholars estimate that Joseph Smith’s days spent in translating this ancient record were about 65–another miracle as well.

Also, in 2017 on the 20th of March at exactly 4:28 AM (MST)– I looked at the clock–I was praying about these miracles of the coming forth of this AMAZING ancient record, and I had the impression that the printed dimensions of the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon–heretofore unknown–were in the Divine ratio. Having a replica, I got up and measured it: 7.5 inches high x 4 5/8 inches wide (7.5/4.625 = 1.62, the Divine Ratio). This Divine revelation came exactly at the moment of the vernal equinox. THANK YOU, LORD for another one of Thy fingerprints manifesting Thine infinite love for us! In Thine honor, I have made the dimensions of my new book in the Divine ratio: 1.62 = 8.5 inches / 5.25 inches, as it explains Thy Perfect Plan of Happiness in the midst of all our imperfections. This is indeed one of Thy grand ironies with a wonderful Divine purpose in it for each of us.

Message of Gladness

During my 87th trip around the sun and onward as the Lord gives me the strength to do so I rejoice in sharing the ‘Message of Gladness” across the world: The Message of Gladness | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com). Bringing people back to faith and ameliorating Satan’s contention and deception. Pray always that we may conquer the influence of Satan and his minions. (D&C 10:5)

Faithfully yours,

David W. Allan

PS My new book, Time & Eternity, the End-Times and Beyond Revealed, is designed to bring hope, as people come to know the beautiful future our Loving Heavenly Father has prepared for His children: Time to Embrace TIME & ETERNITY | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com)

The Book of Mormon is in more than 110 languages, and it can be listened to in audio: https://www.learnoutloud.com/podcaststream/listen.php?url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/book-of-mormon-mp3-eng&all=1&title=45992 and all the scriptures can be read at the following BYU link: Scripture Citation Index (byu.edu)

David W. Allan

Photo: CC Pxfuel

 

 

 

 

Did Abraham Lincoln Read The Book of Mormon?

Science and Spirituality, ,

There is a hypothesis that Abraham Lincoln read the Book of Mormon, which influenced him to end slavery.

Timothy Ballard records in his book, The Lincoln Hypothesis, (unproven supposition) that this may well be the case. However, Tim’s research shows that after reading the Book of Mormon, Lincoln’s life was changed in a significant way. Chapter 8 tells the core of his hypothesis (pp 106-124). I highly suggest you read his entire book.

I add more to the validity of his theory in this blog article and tie it to our day and time in an essential way. We will see that Lincoln’s message to Americans back then is much more important to Americans now.

One can think of a Hebrew Midrash, in simple terms, is ancient commentary or added details on Hebrew Scriptures. I learned from my two Jewish convert friends, Rob Kay and David Doane, about the prevalence and importance of Hebrew Midrash in the Book of Mormon. We will see that this amplification was very important as Lincoln read the Book of Mormon; it shows up in his language and insights.

Nephi’s Midrash in the Book of Mormon added details on Isaiah chapters 2-14 and beautifully explains that the USA is the promised land and a covenant land spoken of in the Book of Mormon—Lincoln’s land, his war, and his people, who he was called to preside over in this most war-torn and tumultuous time. The Book of Mormon message touched Lincoln’s heart to the core, as we will see because of the amplification of these Isaiah scriptures in the Book of Mormon.

Lincoln Received Inspiration

We think about how the Lord helped Lincoln with inspiration in all he accomplished, and we see the impact the Book of Mormon had on him in his language and in his accomplishments. His second inaugural address was totally inspired. Forty-two days later he would die, as a monumental martyr to the cause of freedom as our first assassinated President—and only six days after General Lee had surrendered to General Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Earlier, he told his wife, Mary, he was under orders from the Lord. We will see the amazing story of why he would say that to her.

After taking the oath of office, he reached down where his hand was on a special scripture in the Bible that he had chosen and kissed it as recorded by Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who administered the oath. We will see the great significance of that scripture and the events leading up to why this was significant. The scripture he had kissed was Isaiah 5:24-26. Using Hebrew Midrash, Nephi profoundly explains many events that would resonate with Lincoln’s heart, as he wrestled with the great burden he carried as President of this war-torn country, but knowing of the glorious future of the United States of America.

After taking the oath of office, he gave his inspired second inaugural address. The Lord let everyone know how pleased He was with what Lincoln would be sharing, as a “sunburst” broke through the clouds, as Lincoln began to deliver his message. It had been a stormy day until that monumental moment. Lincoln solemnly and reverently declared in the bright sunshine,

The Almighty has his own purposes… Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away… Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’

We have pictures of General George Washington praying at Valley Forge. It seems we need a new view of Lincoln praying with the Book of Mormon in front of him. The Midrash explanation of these Isaiah scriptures would have given him inspiration and clarity, as these scriptures both describe the Civil War—his war—and the hopeful future, as America is unitedly brought back to the “the law of the Lord”—the USA Constitution and Declaration of Independence, which needed his “Emancipation Proclamation” to get rid of the hypocrisy that slavery encroached against the statement, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed…”

Lincoln was an avid reader. Tim Ballard was able to go to the Library of Congress and in the rare book section, study the Book of Mormon that Lincoln had checked out, which had such an enormous impact on Lincoln’s life. Tim learned that Lincoln was prone to turn down (dog-ear) the corner of a page in a book he was reading. Tim noted that 24 pages had been turned down in this copy and the one tied to Isaiah 5:24-26 had noticeably been turned down three times, which is the one in the Bible Lincoln put his hand on.
Continue reading Did Abraham Lincoln Read The Book of Mormon? →

Ministering Angels and Science

Science and Spirituality, ,

The Lord’s ministering angels are helping us find our way back to our heavenly home, while Satan’s are doing everything they can to deceive us. Did you know you have ministering angels watching over you?

There are nearly ten times more angels above us than there are people on Earth. Satan has half as many to do his dirty work. Hell is their dwelling place. Separate from hell is paradise. Within paradise is the Kingdom of Heaven, which is perfectly organized to carry forth God’s work on earth.

Treasure Up His Word

As we treasure His Word, we will not be deceived, and His angels will help us with learning God’s truths. (JS-M 37) As we think of these two places, paradise, and hell, they are both nearby in the Lord’s dimensionality.   Alma teaches us, there is a space between death and the resurrection (Alma 40:11-14). For the righteous, it is paradise; for the wicked, it is “outer darkness,” [hell] in contrast to the light of Christ. (John 8:12)

Freedom of choice is fundamental to Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of happiness, and our choices determine where we go when we die. The Lord will force no one to heaven; to do so would make it, not heaven. Matt. 7:7-8 is a law of heaven: ask, seek, and knock and then you will receive, find, and have opened. Angels speak the words of Christ; we ask, and they minister (2 Nephi 32:3). Mormon shares the “job description” of the Lord’s angels:

For behold, they are subject unto him, [Christ] to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him. And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have a place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men…

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. (Moroni 7:30-32, 48)

Continue reading Ministering Angels and Science →

Atonement – Timekeeping Algorithm – Zion Parallels

Science and Spirituality, Spirituality, ,

It is amazing how the Atonement, the Timekeeping Algorithm, and Zion align, all contributing to God’s perfect plan of happiness, as we move from time into eternity.

The scriptures give us this glorious picture of the Bride meeting the Bridegroom at His coming—a Zion, pure in heart society will meet the Lord with great rejoicing. As mortals, we are all sinners because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. As we repent, we know the infinite atonement totally covers our sins and gives us a glorious resurrection. I find significant parallels between the Lord’s infinite atonement and the time generation algorithm, AT-1, that I believe the Lord gave me back in 1968, as we move from time into eternity.

When I went to Boulder, Colorado to do my graduate work at the University of Colorado, atomic clocks were relatively new and how to best use their exceptional performance was just beginning to be appreciated. The first atomic clock was an ammonia maser, and that is what I first worked on as I was hired in by the National Bureau of Standards. Because of the significant improvements available from atomic clocks for timekeeping, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) changed the definition of the length of the “second” a year earlier (13 October 1967) from astronomical to atomic. Atomic clocks have enjoyed amazing improvements and are now a billion times better than any astronomical timing technique.

The AT-1 time-scale algorithm that I believe the Lord gave me back then has impacted the world timekeeping community substantially. Fifty-four years later, with improvements by my outstanding colleagues, AT-1 is still generating official time for the USA today, UTC(NIST).

I was personally invited to help Israel and Italy with their atomic-clock timekeeping systems and gave them the AT-1 time-scale algorithm. Several other countries have followed suit. The algorithm for international time, ALGOS, generated by the BIPM, UTC (Universal Time Coordinated), has some similar features, as the folks from the international community came to Boulder, CO, to learn about AT-1 after I had developed it.

Now as we look at Zion. It is a place that has been appointed by the Lord where his followers can live in peace and serve God. Zion will be known as the “City of Holiness and Refuge”, where the Lord’s people will be protected from the evils of the world.

Coexisting Concepts For the Plan of Happiness

You will see how the fascinating features of AT-1 tie to the atonement and Zion as I share the following:

Timekeeping AT-1 Algorithm and ZION parallels

1.  A fundamental assumption of the AT-1 algorithm is that every clock is wrong. Similarly, we are all sinners because of the Fall of Adam and Eve.
2.   With the appropriate corrections applied to each clock’s readings, AT-1 calculates an optimum weighting for each clock resulting in a calculated time output always better than the best clock in the ensemble. Similarly, using the infinite atonement each member of the Zion society uses their time and talents optimally in helping bring about a pure in heart people of one mind and one heart. Both AT-1 and Zion people be the best that they can.
3.   Even the worst clock optimally contributes to AT-1’s optimally calculated time. Similarly, even the least talented person enjoys using their time and talents optimally to bless the Zion society
4.   Any abnormal behavior of a clock is detected and fixed. Similarly, when someone stumbles, everyone helps them come to Christ, who perfectly knows how to fix them.
5.   Even in the short-term and in the long-term the AT-1 algorithm is optimized to be the best it can be. Similarly, the day-by-day activities of a Zion society and the long-term goal of eternal life for each member come to pass by following the Savior’s perfect example, as He brings forth Zion.
6.   Each clock’s performance is measured with each measurement cycle, and the artificial intelligence of AT-1 optimizes its contribution to the ensemble to be the best it can be. Similarly, each member of the Zion society comes to his or her full potential as they optimally contribute their time and talents in everything they do and are perfected through Christ’s infinite atonement.

“Zion must increase in beauty and holiness.” (D&C 82:14) As we move from time into eternity “time will be no longer” and we will move into God’s eternity domain.

Continue reading Atonement – Timekeeping Algorithm – Zion Parallels →

Know The Truth Experiment

Science and Spirituality, ,

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him (John 7:16-18).

The Key To Knowing Truth

In the above scripture, Jesus gives us the key to knowing the truth, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the [teaching], whether it be of God…” Then coming to know by doing that [teaching], that person will seek God’s “glory… and no unrighteousness is in him.”

Continue reading Know The Truth Experiment →

Giving You the Best Time of Your Life

Science and Spirituality,

The conundrum is that time doesn’t exist; it is a metaphysical concept in our heads. And, I’m not kidding.

TIME? You cannot touch it, feel it, taste it, smell it, or hear it; yet, you feel you are immersed in it. You cannot pull it from the universe; you cannot measure it. What you see on a clock is not time. It is a time interval—how many hours and minutes from midnight, for example, or how many years from the birth of Christ (2022 AD).

How Official Time Came To Be

The following is a taste from my new book: TIME & ETERNITY, THE END-TIMES AND BEYOND REVEALED. I will share a piece of my fascinating personal story of how official time came to be—in layperson’s terms.

Tick-tock goes the clock, and the business of counting the ticks must be the most boring job. Yet, measuring the time interval between ticks has been my career for some 62 years, and it has been far from boring. In fact, it’s been totally fascinating—measuring the time between ticks! A different kind of tick–you hope for a very long time-interval between when you have wood ticks on you from going into the mountains.

Best Definition of Time

The best definition of time I know of is one from my very good friend, Chauncey C. Riddle, who has written the foreword for both of my books and is an emeritus professor of philosophy, “Time seems to be the possibility of change”. This definition is particularly interesting to me because my master’s thesis shares how to optimally measure the change in the time between ticks for atomic clocks, and, in principle, for any timing device.

The fascinating thing is that the accuracy of time-interval has improved by over a billion-fold in my lifetime of 86 years, and it has been far from boring to be part of these amazing advancements. GPS is a far-reaching example.

I believe the Lord gave me the AT-1 time-scale algorithm back in 1968 when I had the responsibility to generate time for the nation (USA), and I thank the Lord for it. Atomic clocks were relatively new and how to characterize them and how to best use them for timing came out of my master’s thesis three years earlier, which I feel the Lord gave me as well.

AT-1 Features

The AT-1 algorithm has some very unique features. Its computed output time is always better than the best clock in the contributing ensemble, and even the worst clock contributes. The readings of all the clocks are optimally combined to provide optimum performance for the output.

The short-term and long-term performance of each clock has a different noise signature. This is accommodated by having a unique filter for each clock optimally estimating both the time and frequency (clock rate) for each at each measurement cycle.

Like with artificial intelligence (AI), AT-1 senses any changes in performance, and each clock’s weighting factor is updated appropriately at each measurement cycle. Any mal-performance is detected in any clock at each measurement cycle, as well, to avoid any degradation in the algorithm’s optimum output, and that clock’s issues are dealt with appropriately.

AT-1 Time-scale Algorithm

With the success of the AT-1 time-scale algorithm, we sponsored the first International Time-Scale Algorithm Symposium. After I retired from the lab in 1992, Patrizia Tavella from Italy’s timing center in Torino took over this symposium. Several countries have shown an interest in the AT-1 algorithm, and I have helped those requesting its implementation; the last one was the State of Israel’s atomic clock system–working with the outstanding folks at NPLI (National Physical Laboratory in Israel).

Dr. Michael Granveaud came to Boulder early on to work with me regarding AT-1, and he went back to Paris and wrote the ALGOS algorithm, which has similar features to AT-1, for the generation of international official world time, which used to be called GMT. In 1972, its name was changed to Universal Time Coordinated. UTC is composed of more than 400 atomic clocks from around the world.

This UTC ensemble of atomic clocks is also calibrated with the world’s primary cesium-beam frequency standards to assure that the UTC “second” agrees with the definition—9,192,631,770 cycles of the photon associated with the ground state transition in the cesium-133 atom.

When I used to send the NBS/NIST frequency calibration value to the BIPM (International Bureau of Weights and Measures), where UTC is generated, I had to correct it by 18 ns/day—due to the relativistic correction needed because of Boulder, Colorado’s, elevation. An ns (nanosecond) is a billionth of a second. Our clocks run faster in Boulder!

The Tell You What Time It Was

Patrizia is a dear friend, and she and her two beautiful daughters came and visited us one time in Fountain Green, Utah. Patrizia became the head of the time-services group at the BIPM, where they generate UTC. They put out a monthly bulletin, and my joke is, “They tell you what time it was!” We wrote a paper sharing how one could have a “real-time” UTC. AT-1 is a “real-time” system—which tells you what time it is!

 Working on Time

For several years of my 32 years working in Boulder, I was one of the USA representatives for the BIPM/CCDS (Consultative Committee for the Definition of the Second). Now it is called the Consultative Committee for Time and Frequency (CCTF). I recently learned from Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Donley, the Division Chief for the Time and Frequency Division at NIST in Boulder, CO, where I used to work, that Patrizia had asked Liz to chair a new subcommittee for the CCTF on time-scale algorithms.

It seems we have come full circle since I wrote AT-1 fifty-four years ago. I just sent Liz, who is also a dear friend, several of the old view graphs that I used to use as I went around the world telling people about AT-1—in hopes that they might help her in her work with this new subcommittee on-time scale algorithms.

How AT-1 Generates Time

Now, for those of you who have the stomach for it, I can explain in layperson’s terms how AT-1 generates time, as a fictitious software clock. And with suggestions and several improvements by my outstanding colleagues, it is still fictitiously ticking today, for the US of A. When I used to give lectures about AT-1, I would say, “Every clock is wrong; the only clock that is right is the one you define to be correct.”

So, by definition, AT-1 is the only correct clock for the USA, as the computer calculates optimum algorithmic time. If clocks had souls, each one in the USA would desire to be as close in time as it could to AT-1’s time, UTC(NIST).

Why is Every Clock Wrong?

Also, every clock’s reading is wrong because of noise and systematics that affect every clock. By characterizing the noise and systematics for each clock, we can then optimally predict AT-1’s time using that clock to do so. Now, clocks are like people; everyone is different. We can then ask the question—knowing the noise characteristics and its systematic deviations—how well can we predict the time of AT-1 with that clock?

That prediction error can be used to design a weighting factor for each clock in the ensemble contributing to AT-1’s time. If those weighting factors are optimized based on the performance of each clock, then AT-1’s timing and clock rate performance will be optimized, as a logical consequence.

The Best Time In Your Life

Furthermore, if we use artificial intelligence (AI) to sense changes in behavior that may occur over time, then artificial intelligence allows AT-1 to continually breathe toward optimum performance with each measurement cycle.

‘Voila’, we have an optimized time-scale algorithm that will always be better than the best clock contributing. And, as new and better clocks become available for the ensemble, the AT-1 algorithm optimally accommodates them with its output always being better than the best. The performance of atomic clocks seems to be improving without limit. So now, you have the BEST TIME IN YOUR LIFE! And, you didn’t even know it!

We Were Doing Our Job

I have received many awards for my work over the years. But my thoughts go to Tom Hanks’s lines in the movie “Sully,” where Clint Eastwood does an incredible job of documenting Flight 1549’s forced water landing on the Hudson River on the 15th of January, 2009. Captain Sullenberger, following a bird strike–taking out both engines—miraculously landed the Air Bus on the Hudson River.

He was made a hero as all 155 people on board survived and very few were injured. Tom Hanks, acting for Sully, says, “I don’t feel like a hero… We were a team.” He tells his co-pilot, “We were doing our job!” That is how I have felt over my career path and still feel. I love to use my time and talents to serve to always, hopefully, make the world a better place.

God Is Good

The Lord has blessed me greatly in my efforts to do so, and I am incredibly thankful to Him and to the wonderful people with whom I have been privileged to work, and for the support, I have received from my wonderful family and friends. God is good; sooooooooo good. His perfect and infinite love for each of us is manifest in every direction—most especially with the gift of His Beloved Son, who perfected the Father’s perfect plan of happiness with His infinite atonement.

Where We Are in God’s Time

In my new book, I discuss the great importance of knowing where we are in God’s TIME, which is not the human-kind of time—like AT-1. We live in the most exciting time in the history of the earth, as we live in the “End-times.” And we have the fascinating prophecy, “…that there should be time no longer” (Rev. 10:6).

I explain the great significance of that prophecy in my book, as we move forward in God’s TIME, “One-eternal-round,” and a grand celestial chiasmus. I hope you will join me to know the Lord, and His infinite love for each of us, and His timing!

Now that you know that you live in the “best time” ever, use it to be Christ-centered–to live and share His message of gladness as we prepare for His Glorious Second Coming. With that hope in our hearts, we don’t have to fear tomorrow, as the world spirals down in wickedness. Trusting in Him and doing His will makes all the difference.

David W. Allan

Time And Eternity – End Times Revealed

Science and Spirituality, ,

David W AllanI am pleased to have finished my new book, Time & Eternity –  End-Times & Beyond Revealed. I have just sent a draft off to my son-in-law, Kevn Lambson, to format. He did a super job with my first book, It’s About Time, which was the forerunner to this blog site,  Its AboutTimeBook.com  Kevn may help me with the audio version as well. He has a great voice. We are hoping to have both ready this fall.

The contents of the book are how to best prepare for the Lord’s Coming. It is a book of hope and gives insights into God’s infinite love for each of His Children, as manifest in His perfect plan of happiness. Below is a  draft of the information that will be on the back cover of the new book, which will be written by my publisher, Boyd Tuttle.

Draft  of the BACK COVER

David W. Allan, the praying physicist, does his science with the help of the Lord, and what he has accomplished with the Lord’s help is amazing. In his meek and humble demeanor, he gives credit to the Lord for what has come forth from his hands, and he feels enormously blessed as well to have enjoyed—even now in his 86th year of orbiting the sun—the association of outstanding colleagues, who have contributed to his work and still seek his counsel.

He learned with his master’s thesis at the University of Colorado to trust in the Lord, which gave birth to the Allan variance. His message to us is, “We may not know the future, but the Lord does. To do His will makes all the difference.” If you Google “Allan variance” you will get about forty-five million hits.  And, the “Allan Variance” usefulness is still growing.

He has over 130,000 visits to his book’s website: www.ItsAboutTimeBook.com, from over a hundred nations, and it is ever increasing. Over a thousand people have based their research and Ph.D. theses on his work.

Allan has given lectures across the world, and his master’s thesis is the most cited publication to ever come out of the Department of Commerce, where he worked for thirty-two years, and his career has a long list of other exciting inventions, which he credits to the Lord. The variances he and his colleagues have developed allow one to see and characterize the different spectral-noise colors in nature that were not appreciated before.

Historically, time was determined astronomically. But then the length of the “second” was redefined in 1967 from astronomical to atomic. In 1968, Allan wrote the algorithm, AT-1, to optimally combine the readings of an ensemble of atomic clocks to generate official time for the USA, and with improvements by colleagues, AT-1 is still “ticking” today.

The “Allan variance” was used to characterize the atomic clocks to make GPS as accurate as it is. Time accuracy has improved a billionfold in Allan’s lifetime, and his contributions are significant. The output of his AT-1 algorithm is always better than the best clock in the atomic clocks contributing to the ensemble and optimally combines all their time readings.

In 2011 the international telecom community gave him the “Time Lord” award in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2015, the International Navigation community asked him to write and give a paper, as well as chair a panel in St. Petersburg, Russia, because of the importance of the Modified Allan variance for navigation.

In 2016 the IEEE/UFFC gave him their highest award with the citation, “For [his] seminal [work]…” In 2018, the IEEE, which has the largest scientific papers archive in the world, made an oral history of his life: https://ethw.org/Oral History: David_W._Allan. In 2021, they made him an IEEE Fellow.

Now, the Lord has impressed upon him to write another book: TIME AND ETERNITY, THE END-TIMES AND BEYOND REVEALED. This book could be a “game changer” in helping people prepare for the Lord’s coming. His insights and perspectives are clearly inspired and of great worth.

_______________________

David W. Allan

P.S.  My goal is simple, “Help the people of the world know of God’s infinite love and of His perfect plan of happiness in the midst of all our imperfections, and to be of service to you.” I have come to know that the  most important unit in time and eternity is FAMILY. My greatest blessings are to have a wonderful family and to know the Creator of it all. He has taught me how to be a creator and I rejoice in HIs infinite love. I believe one of my most important proofs is validating the scriptures scientifically. And, LDS Living picked up on it as well. Both of my books treat this important topic as well to counter the growing atheism in the world.

A discount price is available for my new book on the book’s preorder page.

James Edwin Webb Space Telescope

Science and Spirituality, ,

A new space telescope was launched on Christmas Day 2021. It is NASA’s largest and most powerful space science telescope since Hubble launched on April 24, 1990, and the largest in the world. The first images from the James Edwin Webb massive telescope were released on July 11th, 2022, and are giving us magnificent images.

 James Webb Space Telescope

The new telescope is named after the former NASA director during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, which put the first man on the moon. They nearly didn’t name it after him because during his leadership a large number of gays were fired from NASA. Correlation doesn’t provide validation, and later investigations declared that it would be “an Injustice” to blame him.

Multinational Effort

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has 20 countries participating in its enormous cost of $10 billion—the main funders have been the USA, EU, and Canada. It was launched on the 25th of December 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, which was the only launch vehicle large enough to house this large disassembled JWST. It arrived a month later in January 2022 in a halo orbit configuration beyond the moon—called an L2 Lagrange point.This Lagrange point is 3.9 times further away from the earth than the moon and its halo orbit is directly away from the sun from the earth.  This is an incredibly complicated orbit configuration.  You will see why.

Light times from the moon to Earth are about 1.3 seconds and from the sun about 8 minutes to travel 93 million miles (1 AU). JWST is away from the sun and the earth about 0.01 AU from the Earth. JWST has a light time of 5 seconds to Earth. Because of its size, JWST had to be reassembled robotically in space.  Here are a couple of images that were first shared with the public on 11 July 2022 with much more exciting detail than from Hubble. Here are comparison telescope image examples.

        EDWIN HUBBLE                         JAMES EDWIN WEBB

Space Telescope Details

Each of the 18 mirrors has six actuating stepping motors to keep them focused with accuracies of nanometers (nanometer = a billionth of a meter). In the opening photo, you can see the five heat shields as well as the 18 mirrors. The images we are seeing from it of the heavens are amazing. It has a 40-degree look angle and can get images in all directions every half year, as it does its halo orbits above the earth and away from the sun nominally synchronous with the earth’s orbit period of one year.

The JWST halo orbit is highly unusual. Most all satellites orbiting the earth are in one of three configurations: LEO (low-earth orbiting), MEO (medium-earth orbiting), and GEO (geosynchronous earth orbit), with orbit periods of about 2 hours or less, 12 sideral hours, and 24 sidereal hours, respectively.

Sputnik was an LEO, as is Hubble, and as is the International Space Station (ISS) with an orbit period of 93 minutes. Russia, which has provided many scientists for the ISS, has announced its intention to withdraw from the ISS not before 2024 but before 2028. The navigation satellites (GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, and BIDOU) are MEOs. A new worldwide communication system is now being planned around LEOs. There are about 200 GEOs at the equatorial belt—orbiting synchronous with the earth’s spin period of one sidereal day and are used for worldwide communications, as they appear stationary as they orbit the earth at the same rate as the earth spins on its axis.

The altitudes of the LEOs, MEOs, and GEOs, are about 0.3, 4.2, and 6.7 earth radii. The 6.7 earth radii distance of the GEOs makes them not useful for voice communication because of the time delay. Hence, they are planning LEO configurations of satellites for worldwide (no cell towers) communications.

My Interest and Background

The JWST is particularly interesting to me for several reasons. The above picture was taken at NASA, Goddard, Beltsville, Maryland. I have been there many times for meetings, and they have hydrogen-maser atomic clocks there as well as at John Hopkin’s, nearby, which is the control location for JWST. Northrop Grumman was the principal contractor. I was invited to give a talk at Northrop Grumman not too long ago. They showed me the highly accurate gyro they had developed for Hubble. Since we lived in Boulder, Colorado, for 32 years, we knew Ball Aerospace well, and several of our friends and neighbors worked for Ball. Ball Aerospace designed and built the 18 mirrors for JWST.

My first trip to NASA Goddard was in 1964 when the IEEE and NASA sponsored a special symposium to deal with the problem of characterizing precise timing sources—like quartz-crystal oscillators and atomic clocks. Atomic clocks were new at that time. Quartz-crystal oscillators were the main timekeepers before atomic clocks, and they were plagued with long-term frequency variations called flicker noise. Mathematically, the classical variance had no convergent value for flicker noise, so this was a major problem in trying to characterize the frequency variations in quartz-crystal oscillators. Jim Barnes had developed a special autocorrelation function that mathematically converged for flicker noise. He and I presented a paper at the symposium with a solution to the flicker-noise problem. It was extremely well received.

The next year, Jim went on to do his Ph.D. thesis using this special autocorrelation function and wrote an algorithm to use an ensemble of quartz-crystal oscillator clocks calibrated by the NBS primary cesium-beam frequency standard. The NBS started keeping official time for the USA using his algorithm, which he programmed using an IBM 360 computer.

That same year, I did my master’s thesis, using this special autocorrelation function along with a powerful book Jim introduced me to by Sir James Michael Lighthill, Fourier Analysis and Generalized Functions. Page 43 of Lighthill’s book gave me the mathematical information I needed to characterize flicker noise and the several other different noise processes occurring in time and frequency metrology.

Since atomic clocks were new, a series of comparisons began in the Fall of 1965 and on through to 1970, at NBS in Boulder, to compare the best atomic clocks in the world. Bob Vessot brought his hydrogen maser from Varian in Boston and later one from Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA. Len Cutler and Lee Bodily brought their HP 5060-A commercial cesium atomic clock, Harry Peters brought his hydrogen maser from NASA Goddard. And we, at NBS, had the primary cesium-beam frequency standard for the USA and the official time, AT-1 time scale algorithm. Jim had been made Section Chief and had given me the responsibility for generating time; that is when I wrote AT-1 to replace his algorithm, as we moved from quartz-crystal clocks in the ensemble to atomic clocks. A twelve-authored paper came out of these comparisons, and later comparisons followed. The metric used to compare all the clocks was the square root of the Allan variance–though Don Halford, who was Section Chief after Jim, gave the metric that name later. With improvements by my several outstanding colleagues, AT-1 is still generating official time for the USA today.

Putting God into The Equation

I am intrigued with the cleverness of the JWST, and the images we are seeing are astronomically astounding. I see this focused energy on the part of so many costing an enormous budget of $10 billion to figure out how the universe came into being without God.

Most of their astronomical assumptions are based on the Big Bang theory, which has been proven false; yet they ignore the falsification data and move on with what I call the “Big Bank” theory.

For me, the truths I am sharing in my new book, Time and Eternity, the End-Times and Beyond Revealed, leave in the dust, all that they have and will share. As soon as we put God in the equation then truth and light across all spectral densities emerge with enormous promises for this life and beyond. Satan is so subtle in hiding what is most important for us in our mortal journey on this exciting spaceship called Earth. Because of the exciting results coming from JWST, they are already planning the next generation. The world says, “Look to the science!”

I was invited to be a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) because of my work with millisecond pulsars and atomic clocks. I know the ego of most of those folks in the IAU, and humility is not their calling card. Alma said it well, “Look to God and live” (Alma 37:47).

I am so happy that my work has gotten international attention that I can share God’s love; over a hundred nations visit my book’s website, www.ItsAboutTimeBook.com, and with about a hundred thousand visits per year. I believe my new book will be a game changer–being printed this Fall–Time and Eternity, the End-Times and Beyond Revealed–Giving hope and purpose to a very troubled world.

David W. Allan

Photo:  CC Flickr

Book Review – Tornado in a Junkyard

Science and Spirituality,

Guest Post: Chauncey C. Riddle

Chauncey C. RiddleChauncey C. Riddle is a long-time friend and colleague. He has recently read and reviewed the book, “Tornado in a Junkyard” by James Perloff. I found Chauncey’s observation of the material to be worth considering. I asked him if I could share his thoughts with my readers and he consented.

Chauncey is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has written many articles for the Ensign, Sunstone, and BYU Studies. He has also written countless articles and published his book, “Think Independently”.

Book Report:
Tornado in a Junkyard: The Relentless Myth of Darwinism

Book Review Tornado in A Junkyard(The author says that believing in organic evolution is like believing a tornado went through a junkyard and produced a functioning Boeing 747.)

Author: James Perloff, Refuge Books, Burlington, Massachusetts, 1999

Ch1. Baby Boomer Tunes Out, Turns On, Bums out, Burns out.

The author’s life as a hippie.

Ch.2 Problems Carved in Stone.

A repeat of the current Darwinian hypothesis, with wondering why some fossils stay the same through supposed millions of years.

Ch.3 Marvelous Mutations.

The discovery of genes proved a roadblock to the theory of evolution, but the idea of mutations came to the rescue. But most mutations are deadly and are not passed on. The chances of creating a new species by mutation alone are calculated by some evolutionists to be one over 3.6 x 102738.
Continue reading Book Review – Tornado in a Junkyard →

Why is the Allan Deviation So Useful?

Science and Spirituality,

Why is the Allan Deviation (ADEV) so useful in today’s technical world? In a nutshell, with this development we have much more accurate and precise timing systems like the marvel of GPS. During my life, timing accuracy has improved a billion fold, and ADEV has been the metric to characterize and quantify these amazing improvements. Because of these improvements time determination moved from astronomical to atomic in 1967, and this metric was and still is the main measurement technique optimally combining the readings of atomic clocks to generate the smoothest time-scale and the most accurate.

Allan Deviation Birth and Usefulness

Today (12 May 2022), I Googled “Allan deviation,” and got 135 million hits. ADEV is the square root of the Allan variance, and its usefulness is ever-expanding. WHY?

I hope to give you a feel for why in this blog article. I wrote my master’s thesis in 1965, which gave birth to the Allan variance, by asking the question, “What happens to the classical variance and standard deviation in the presence of different kinds of noise and as a function of different measurement parameters?”

From this investigation, we learned that noise has a spectrum of colors and that for some kinds of noise, like flicker-noise frequency modulation, the classical variance has no well-defined mean value, and its magnitude increases without limit. Yet, flicker-noise is ubiquitous in nature. So, we learned that the classical variance and standard deviation, in general, are not good measures. It is like taking a black and white picture of a rainbow. You only get intensity and no color. Yet, noise has a large spectrum of colors.

The Allan variance can be shown to be the optimum estimate of the change in rate in an ideal atomic clock in a variance sense, as a function of the sampling time.  It was used to assure the atomic clocks needed for GPS had sufficient accuracy and timing stability to meet the needs of this high accuracy navigation system. As the sampling time is varied, ADEV gives a picture of the changes in an atomic clock’s rate– displaying the different colors of noise.

Changes are Like Repentance

Like in life, changes are like repentance. As we exercise faith in Jesus, we change our behavior to be closer to His teachings. In metrology, we desire to know the signal in the presence of noise. ADEV allows us to characterize the different kinds of noise so we can better understand and utilize the signal we are looking for in the midst of the noise. And, there is always noise.

In life, we are trying better to know Jesus’s true teachings in the midst of Satan’s noise and distractions, so that we can change our behavior to be consistent with His perfect life. This takes us toward the abundant life that He promises. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

Signal to Noise (S/N) is fundamental in all of metrology. Similarly, knowing truth from error is fundamental in life. This is like sorting out God’s word in the midst of Satan’s noise.  We have His sure promise that as we treasure up His word we will not be deceived. (Joseph Smith Matthew 24:30, JS Mark 13:26, and JS-M 37 in the Pearl of Great Price) So, as we feast upon His word in His holy scriptures (2 Nephi 31:20-21) and in personal revelations from Him, our signal to noise (S/N) will get better and better, and then we are on the path for the ultimate blessing and promise of a fullness of joy.

I have learned the extremely important lesson in my physics career that including God in my work makes all the difference. I believe He has blessed me greatly because I have focused my work on how to best serve Him and His precious sons and daughters. I believe He helped me with my master’s thesis, and in accountable other occasions. I know He is there continually for all of us if we will but come unto Him. (Matt. 11:28-30).

Improvement in ADEV

There was an imperfection in ADEV that we lived with for sixteen years. Then again with help from the Lord and wonderful colleagues, I was able to develop the Modified Allan variance (MVAR), which then gave us more full color of the different noise processes we see in atomic clocks, in nature, in measurement systems, and due to environmental perturbations.

After the development of MVAR and seeing its usefulness, a few years later, the telecom community came to me and asked for help to characterize the noise in telecom networks. Out of that effort came the “Time variance” measure (TVAR), which is a derivative of MVAR.  I believe the Lord inspired that effort as well. The square roots of these three measures, AVAR, MVAR, and TVAR are ADEV, MDEV, and TDEV, respectively, and all three became IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) standards in 1988.

ADEV has great use in the time and frequency community, MDEV in the navigation community, and TDEV in the telecom community. However, because these natural noise processes persist across all of metrology, the number of uses continues to grow.

Unusual uses of ADEV and Allan variance

While I am pleased with the increased use of these measures, I have also been surprised with the large range of applications—everything from the precision of alcohol detection in drunks, to heart-rate monitoring, to ocean tides, to carbon-dioxide emission level variations, to rainfall variations, and the list goes amazingly on.

I recently learned that the Allan variance was used to examine data from the James Webb Space Telescope.

I subscribe to academia.edu, which shows who is using any of my publications. Since I subscribed over a year ago, I have about two thousand papers that mention my publications. For me, I view it a greater opportunity let the world know of God’s love; it is not for self aggrandizement. “Pride goes before the fall”

Why Such A Blog Article?

My main goal in writing this blog article is to help people deal with the noise in life and to know of God’s infinite love for them (John 3:16). Satan has an uncountable number of noise distractions and distortions to take us away from the truth. I know Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and we have His remarkable promise, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And “If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:32, 36) Because of Satan’s noise, we are admonished in addition to treasuring up His word to, “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.” (D&C 10:5)

Gratitude fills my heart for my uncountable blessings, as I have learned over the years to do things His way, rather than my way. He will not force nor ever violate our agency (free choice), which is fundamental to His perfect plan of happiness.  I know that as we ask, seek, and knock, we will receive, find, and have opened to us (Matt. 7:7-8) the best way to fulfill our life’s missions that will be the greatest blessing to us and to all whom we are privileged to serve. Let us be grateful  as well for the challenges in life; from them we grow as we ask Him what lessons we are to learn from these experiences in our lives. The bottom-line is to trust in Him.

For more Technical Details

For those who have some math, engineering, or physics skills there is a six-minute video where I explain in simple terms the message of my master’s thesis to Dr. Elizabeth Donley, which gave birth to ADEV, as she conducts the IEEE ORAL HISTORY of my life.  The IEEE ORAL HISTORY is also available on my book’s website with two other fun and short video clips, in laymen’s terms, on how we were invited to go to Israel and how time is optimally generated from an ensemble of atomic clocks. I also have on my book’s website an explanation in laymen’s terms of the Allan variance.

When Dr. Donley came to our home 5-6 November 2018, I shared with her a fairly comprehensive tutorial–including her questions and comments that has been put up on  the IEEE/UFFC website: Educational Resources | IEEE UFFC (ieee-uffc.org).  Even for someone without a technical background, there are some fun insights and  perspectives shared, and I was able to share my testimony–to let the people of the world know that God loves them.

Little Did We Know What the Future Would Bring

Back in 1965, no one had a clue where this work would go, but the Lord knew, and now—in a troubled world—I have the opportunity to share a happier path for life and for the life beyond for all who desire to know the TRUTH—during my 86th trip around the sun while focusing and following the Son (Jesus the Christ)! As the Savior said to the Father, “…not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matt.  26:39)  So, let it be with us and make the world be a much better place.

For those who desire, the fun part is that the Lord has led me to share using the scientific method the validity of His scriptures and the validation of the infinite atonement of our Lord and Savior. (See links below).

May the Lord bless you and yours, I pray. May your heart be continually filled with gratitude and learn from the lessons of life by having a wonderful S/N–signal to noise, as you follow the Spirit and ignore Satan’s distractions.

David W. Allan

P.S. PLEASE TAKE NOTE

This new e-mail address is being provided for you to contact me. I appreciate feedback (Questions or Suggestions): gospelquestions7@gmail.com 

Additional Study Links.

Don’t Bypass “And It Came To Pass”

Jesus Planned Miracle Triggered Crucifixion

The Bible is not a Myth