Dali The Persistence of Memory (MOMA)

Information

Topics

  1. Introduction How we talk about time. Introduction/How we talk about time. We will examine how the language we use to discuss time reflects our underlying concepts. (PW: 2 lectures, 8/9,10/9)
  2. Stonehenge to Cesium: 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: 15/9, 17/9)
  3. Chronos and Kairos: Time and Literature. Literature shows an increasing sophistication in our understanding of time. We start with the Greeks and go to the present day (Adam Barrows, 2 lectures 12/9, 17/9)
  4. Time in Film: As soon as film appeared in the late nineteenth century, it was understood as a uniquely temporal medium. Throughout the history of the cinema, time has been a major theme, providing filmmakers with a wide range of formal and stylistic possibilities to explore as they have sought to represent the experience of time. We will ask if film is the true “time art.” (Marc Furstenau, 2 lectures 29/9,1/10)
  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 (Jennifer Ferraro , 2 lectures: 6/10, 8/10)
  6. How we Perceive Time. Memory and time are intimately linked, and psychologists have a variety of techniques for studying how we perceive time. (Craig Leth-Steensen 1 lecture 15/10 note Thanksgiving)
  7. Time and Philosophy. Some philosophical questions 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, 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 Brook, 1 lecture: 20/10)
  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 27/10, 29/10)
  9. Deep Time. One of the most profound scientific debates of the 19th century was the discussion of the age of the earth. The geologists of the time opened our eyes to the immense time-scales involved. (Allan Donaldson, 2 lectures 3/11, 5/11)
  10. Sacred and Profane Time. Different religions have different approaches to time. What ideas can we take from them? (John Buschek, 1 lecture 10/11)
  11.  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: 12/11, 17/11,19/11,24/11)
  12. 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 1 lectures 26/11)
  13. 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: 1/12, 3/12)
  14. Summary: We will try to pull together many of the ideas of the course and present our current understanding and the still unanswered questions. Oh, and can we time-travel? (PW 1 lecture 8/12)