Aug 10, 2012
Our guest today is Julian Barbour who joins Justin Trottier at The
Star Spot to share his unique insights into the elusive mystery of
time. He explains how new perspectives and research he is leading
on time - which take seriously the puzzling implications of the
Many World interpretation of quantum mechanics - may herald a new
revolution in physics. The two explore the paradoxes of
simultaneity and duration, asking how we know a second today is the
same as a second a billion years ago. They then discuss Barbour's
own personal paradox, in which his belief that time is illusory
exists alongside his fascination with human history. In his own
eccentric, provocative and illuminating style, Barbour finally
takes listeners on a tour of platonia, a new concept in which
existence is turned into a series of nows - or time capsules - and
time is intricately connected to every activity in the
universe.
Barbour is a theoretical physicist. Uniquely, he contributes to various fields without holding an academic position. He works part time as a translator and lives on a farm north of Oxford village. He’s been a visiting professor at the University of Oxford since 2008. Barbour holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Buckingham and is the author of a number of books, including Absolute or Relative Motion?, The Discovery of Dynamics, and The End of Time. His interests include quantum gravity, the history of science, and of course time
In Curent in Space we remind listeners not to miss the final days
of the Perseid Meteor Show and provide an update on the first few
Sols of the Curiosity rover which is now sending its first colour
images from the Red Planet.