About time: metronomes at Perimeter
A performance of “Poème Symphonique,” György Ligeti’s 1962 composition for 100 metronomes, was a fitting musical interlude for Perimeter’s “Time in Cosmology” conference in June 2016, attended by dozens of leading minds from fields including physics, philosophy, and biology.
The scientific and philosophical questions examined at the conference have been studied, in one form or another, for millennia. Why does time seem to only move forward? Is time fundamental to the world, or inessential? Such questions transcend any single academic discipline, necessitating the diverse group of attendees.
The speakers in this video were attendees of the conference, including Lee Smolin, Marina Cortes, Neil Turok, Fay Dowker, Carlo Rovelli, and others.
Read more about the conference here. You can also watch a full-length documentary, Age of Uncertainty, filmed during the conference by Quantum Entanglement Entertainment.
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
