Dr. Bradford Parkinson "The Father of GPS" Over the past 30 years, a new utility has come into being. It has stealthily crept into the fabric of worldwide society and created dependencies that did not exist before. This utility is known as the Global Positioning System or GPS. With over a billion GPS receivers in use, this stunning achievement has truly revolutionized the way the world functions in the 21st century. More than anything else, GPS has become the United State's gift to Humanity. Virtually every cell phone system relies on GPS for timing. Almost every ship and aircraft carries multiple GPS receivers to provide positioning information. Other applications span earth movement, transportation, object tracking, and resource identification. Today, the loss of GPS signals would have catastrophic consequences. The applications for Air Safety, Search and Rescue, Disease Tracking, and many more will be highlighted. Some of the applications, such as GeoCaching are just educational "Fun".