Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time

These are a series of twenty-four professionally produced pedagogical lectures on DVD or audio-only, discussing how scientists think about the mysteries of time. We will talk about what time really is, and how it works from the perspectives of philosophers, physicists, and neuroscientists. How do we measure and keep track of time? How does time relate to space? Why is there an arrow of time? How do we perceive the passage of time? How does the behavior of time relate to the origin of the universe?

The lectures are meant for anyone with a curious mind, regardless of their background. No prior familiarity with physics is assumed. We start with the basic questions of what time is and how we measure it, then move on to some of time's mysteries. The biggest mystery is the arrow of time: why is the past different from the future? That brings us to the ideas of entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We'll discuss the development of the Second Law, from a simple principle that was useful when designing steam engines to a bedrock rule of our understanding of the cosmos. Following the route laid down by nineteenth-century physicist Ludwig Boltzmann, we'll understand why the Second Law is true and how it relates to cosmology and the beginning of time. That will naturally lead us to a detour into complexity, life, memory, and psychology, before returning to the firm ground of physics to think about spacetime and black holes. The course concludes with some more speculative ideas about the multiverse and our place in the wider cosmos.