Wild Time is probably one of the seminars I'm looking forward to most out of my Idea Festival experience this year. It will be presented Saturday at 1:30 p.m. by Caltech theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, in support of his recently published book From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time. This book explores the nature and concept of time in all of its many manifestations including time travel, the arrow of time, and its effect on the universe. Carroll also has a textbook under his belt titled Spa cetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, and recorded a set of lectures on cosmology for the Teaching Company. According to his web site, his research ranges over a number of topics in theoretical physics, focusing on cosmology, field theory, particle physics, and gravitation.
Many people might find their eyes glazing over when they think of what listening to a physicist might be like. They might think of someone geeky or boring who drones on. I doubt that will be the case if his presentation has even an inkling of the personality that his online website preposterousuniverse.com does or some of his blog posts on different sites such as one about "Sharktopus". One of his blog posts also spoke of how clocks at different elevations will tick at different speeds.
I look forward to his discussion and hope it touches on some of his interest in what happened at or before the "big bang" and his ideas on the "arrow of time".
I can't help it. I'm a sucker for time travel and things that most never thought possible. I find it fascinating that there are many more experiences beyond the one we are currently having and how perception and the measurement of time can shift.
