Dali The Persistence of Memory

Information

Topics

  1. Introduction: what are the issues?
  2. How we talk about time. We will examine how the language we use to discuss time reflects our underlying concepts. (PW: 2 lectures, 12/9,14/9)
  3. The Sociology of Time. Human societies differ hugely in their attitude to time: so North Americans are obsessed by being “on time”. Are these differences fundamental, or learned, and are the time-obsessed societies more successful? (FS: 1 lecture: 19/9)
  4. How we Measure Time. Calendars originated in agricultural communities to guide crop planting, using the sun and moon. Now we rely on the atom for the most accurate measurements: does this allow us to understand time better? (PW 2 lectures: 21/9, 26/9, Louis Marmet guest)
  5. Biological clocks: these exist in all organisms, even at the cellular level. How do they work and how are they related to our perception of time (C. H. , 2 lectures: 28/9, 3/10)
  6. How we Perceive Time. Memory and time are intimately linked, and psychologists have a variety of techniques for studying how we perceive time. (J.D, C L-S 1 lecture 5/10.)
  7. Time and Philosophy. Some leading philosophical questions about time are: What is time? Can the notion be defined? Is time real or is it a perceptual illusion? Given that only the present moment exists (the past no longer exists and the future does not yet exist), could there be an alternative universe whose 'now' is five minutes before ours? We can change things in all dimensions of space; why with time can we change things only in the future?. (Andrew B., 2 lectures: 12/10,17/10, note Thanksgiving)
  8. Past and Future. The question of how tomorrow differs from yesterday is trite in terms of the human experience, but it is surprisingly hard to define in physics terms. This will introduce the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Entropy. (PW 2 lectures 19/10, 24/10)
  9. How Matter bends Time. The ideas behind Special and General Relativity, formulated by Einstein at the start of the 20th century undermine most of our intuition, so the concept of universal time is no longer valid. This allows us to address the physics issues of time-travel. (PW 4 lectures: 26/10, 31/10, 2/11, 7/11)
  10. Time and Prediction. Even if actual time travel is impossible, perhaps we can virtually time-travel by predicting the future. It is possible to prove that there are systems which are intrinsically unpredictable, so forecasting must always be imprecise. (PW 2 lectures 9/11, 14/11)
  11. The Beginning and the End. Most astronomers believe that the universe began in the Big Bang, about 4 billion years ago. What consequences does this have for the start of time? Is it possible that time will end? (PW 2 lectures: 16/11, 21/11)
  12. Time and Culture. There is a vast amount of fiction which plays games with the assumptions of our linear time. Many 20th century writers have been fascinated by time and their writings illuminate some profound issues (Adam B, 2 lectures, PW 1 lecture: 23/11, 28/11, 30/11)
  13. Summary: PW 1 lecture 5/12