Jeff Bezos and other tech luminaries fund it. Brian Eno provides the chimes.
And the guy the brilliant people call “really brilliant” (Danny Hills) builds it.
It’s the 10,000-year clock.
Here are the best videos documenting the project.
I’ll post updates as I hear about them.
2022 Update from “We Are As Gods” Documentary
The video above is an excerpt from the “We Are As Gods” documentary about Stewart Brand.
Stewart Brand was one of the first people (after Danny Hills) to champion the clock after receiving an email from Danny about it.
2016 Profile of Danny Hills Talking About the Clock
2008 Ted Talk on the Beginnings of the Clock (by Stewart Brand)
There’s a higher quality video of the Stewart Brand Ted Talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/stewart_brand_the_long_now (but it has a few ads on it including a 15 second one at the start).
Where is the clock of the long now?
As of 2024, a full-scale version of the clock of the long now has been built at an undisclosed piece of 165,000 acre property owned by Jeff Bezos near Van Horn, Texas (West Texas) bounded by the Sierra Diablo mountains (the least occupied region of the United States). They started building the clock there in 2005. Source: Whole Earth (2022 biography of Stewart Brand).
A second “public” clock will be built at the top of Mount Washington near Ely, Nevada (Eastern Nevada) next to Great Basin National Park. The property includes 180.3 acres as well as a 60 acre ranch in nearby Spring Valley. Realtor Dave Tilford brokered the land purchase. The funding for that clock was provided by The Mitch Kapor Foundation, Jay Walker family and Bill Joy. Source: https://longnow.org/clock/nevada/ (includes some photos).
The Team Behind The Clock of the Long Now
Some members building “The Clock” are:
- Danny Hillis – Project Concept and Design
- Jascha Little – Lead Engineer and Install
- Greg Staples – Lead Install Engineer
- Brian Roe – Engineer
- Brian Ford – Lead Install Engineer
- Marisa McKay – Project Management
- Alexander Rose – Project Design and Install
- Sean Riley – Lead Rigging Design
- Dave Freitag – Rigger
- Aaron Griffith – Site Supervisor
- Machinist Inc – Primary Machining Work
- Anton Hasell – Bell Design and Manufacture
- Rand Machine Works – Assembly and Machining
Source: Clock of the Long Now 2022 Update
Board of “The Long Now Foundation”:
- Stewart Brand (President)
- Danny Hills (Founder)
- Katherine Fulton (Co-chair)
- Kevin Kelly
- Danica Remy
- Doug Carlston
- Patrick Collison
- Esther Dyson
- David Eagleman
- Brian Eno
- Ping Fu
- Kim Polese
- David Rumsey
- Paul Saffo
- Peter Schwartz
- Doug Carlston
- Patrick Collison
- Esther Dyson
- David Eagleman
- Brian Eno
- Ping Fu
Source: https://longnow.org/people/board/
Emeritus Board Members
- Chris Anderson (TED)
- Mitchell Kapor
- Michael Keller
- Roger Kennedy
- Alexander Rose
Source: https://longnow.org/people/board/
Donors include:
- Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon)
- Bill Joy (a founder of Sun Microsystems)
- The Mitch Kapor Foundation
- Jay Walker family (Jay founded Priceline)
Thanks for reading!
Rob Kelly, Chief Maniac, Daily Doc