Cambridge Annual Theme Lecture Time

Author: (English) Riedelbs, edited by Zhang Shaozeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: What is time? Augustine's answer to this question is well-known. He said that when no one asks him, he knows, but once he has to explain it, he does not know. This puzzle partly comes from the complexity of the question. Everyone thinks about "What is time?" from a different perspective. We ask whether time is linear or cyclical, whether it is infinite, whether traveling through time is possible, how the experience of time passing is generated, how the biological clock in our bodies is regulated, and how our language grasps the temporality of our existence. In this book, nine outstanding researchers explore the impact of their research in their respective fields on the question of the nature of time. These fields range from the humanities to the natural sciences, reflecting the truly interdisciplinary nature of this theme.