Welcome to the second installment in our video series, The Biggest Ideas in the Universe. Today’s idea is Change. This sounds like a big and rather vague topic, and it is, but I’m actually using the label to sneak in a discussion of continuous change through time — what mathematicians call calculus. (I know some of you would jump on a video about calculus, but for others we need to ease them in softly.)
Don’t worry, no real equations here — I do write down some symbols, but just so you might recognize them if you come across them elsewhere.
Also, I’m still fiddling with the green-screen technology, and this was not my finest moment. But I think I have settled on a good mixture of settings, so video quality should improve going forward.
Update: here is the Q&A video. Technical proficiency improving apace!
Hi Sean, Was Calculus used to therefore solve Zeno’s pardoxes?
The notion of “infinitesimal” was controversial indeed! (A book I found on the bedside table checking into the Hilbert Hotel) https://www.npr.org/2014/04/20/303716795/far-from-infinitesimal-a-mathematical-paradoxs-role-in-history
hi can you please write down the names of the people you are referring to? thanks!!
Sean, I’m really appreciating these presentations,
Although I hope they are not getting in the way of Caliban,
or your deriving the Einstein tensor from entanglement.
Which I hope will qualify as a Biggest Idea in the Universe before too long.
The topic of Change makes a nice counterpoint to Conservation.
I wonder if least action would be a similar counterpoint to symmetries of action.
Simon Carter, I think instantaneous state of the arrow being Lorentz transformed
resolves Zeno’s arrow paradox. Or maybe it’s resolved by the phase of the wave function in momentum space.
Hi Sean,
Something you may be able to clairify?
Regarding relativity,
If i am approaching you at close to light speed, and you light 2 firecrackers, one closer to me, the other further away. From your reference point, they both go off at the same time. what would i see?
Which one would appear to explode first?
Why?
As I understand it, between zero and one, there’s a limit to how much we can divide a real object up, yet when it comes to us measuring/dividing up time/change and such, I can see how that can involve infinite amounts, yet there are limits to what can be measured and predicted, and….. and..
Hmm.
You gave me something to think about.
Thanks!
Hi Sean,
After I retired, I finally had time to study physics. Fortunately for me, I stumbled on your DVDs, which led me to your webpage (The Greatest Hits), your books (read them all, although I am still struggling with the last part of Something Deeply Hidden), and your YouTube presentations. Whenever I read or watch you, I always start to smile because of your great sense of humor, but more importantly I know that I will learn something exciting and new for me.
I took a couple of classes in calculus in college and learned how to solve the problems, but never really understood it. I just finished watching The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, part two. Without you using math, I now understand the concept of calculus! Amazing!
I have been meaning to thank you for all that you have done for me. You are an extraordinary teacher, taking complex physics concepts and simplifying them for people like me to comprehend. I am so glad that I have got to “know” you over the last ten years! I am also sure that there will be lots to come from you in the future. I can’t wait. So:
Thank you very much, Sean Carroll, for being the person that you are!
jim
Dear Professor,
My interests reside mainly in the field of Philosophy. Cosmology is also intriguing me and so is your elegant motto, ”in truth, only atoms and the void”. I hope to pardon me, but I think you are leaving out the missing anti-matter. In truth, only particals, anti-particles and the void. The missing anti-matter cannot be left out of consideration. Philosophically it exists somewhere and I think that its existence is manifested by the dragging it exerts on our space and force it to expand at an increasing rate. One should forget about mythical dark matter and dark energy and concentrate on the relationship of space and the already known entity of the missing anti-matter.
Shield yourself tightly against the virus,
Greetings from Greece
Trian Elef
Hi Sean,
Thanks so much for everything you do.
Regarding your videos using green screen, moving away as far as possible from the screen and lowering your overall lighting (the camera should compensate for that) should reduce/eliminate the green highlights.
Keep the flame