Prof Jim al-Khalili: "The Story of Time"

It's a privilege to have Prof Jim al-Khalili as speaker for our first meeting of 2025. Jim will be online, but we will meet physically in the usual venue (£5 on the door to help cover room hire). Alternatively, you can participate online using this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82097538417?pwd=WmhPZ1dDTzlKNkNXN2I4dmRoUFpjQT09

Despite our ever-deepening understanding of the physical universe, we have yet to reach a consensus on the nature of time: does it flow like a river, carrying us along, or does it flow past us? And why does it point towards the future and not to the past? Is this arrow of time baked into the structure of the universe, or is it just a trick of our senses?
What does our current understanding of the laws of physics and the nature of the universe tell us about these big questions on the nature and behaviour of time? This session will change the way you think about the passage of time and your place within it.

Jim Al-Khalili is a theoretical physicist, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Surrey, and former President of Humanists UK. He has published over a hundred papers in nuclear physics, quantum mechanics and quantum biology, and is well-known as an author and broadcaster. He has hosted BBC Radio 4's 'The Life Scientific' since 2011.