Is time an illusion? We brought together a philosopher, a poet, a classicist and a physicist to go in search of time’s direction.

"Time isn’t an absolute, it’s not something abstract, something we have invented or something we have no control over. Time is more tangible than that, it’s tangible in the way that space is tangible" Jim Al-Khalili

"It’s about time that time’s arrow was put back into its quiver. It’s an unhelpful metaphor and it’s based on a deep rooted and revealing misunderstanding of the nature of time." Raymond Tallis

Time is almost always considered in a linear fashion: the ultimate form of progress. Unseen to most of us, the debate over the true nature of time is a battleground. Some claim that time doesn’t require our presence; it is a measurable, knowable quality of the world around us, others that time is far more complex than we have yet begun to understand.

To get to the bottom of this chronological conundrum we brought together a group of the finest minds to pursue the elusive nature of time. Internationally acclaimed physicist Jim Al-Khalili, classicist Angie Hobbs, philosopher and poet Raymond Tallis and philosopher of time Craig Bourne are joined by chair Quentin Cooper in this week’s video Time’s Arrow.

What did you think of our panelists' conclusions? Tell us what you think on our comments board.

Other videos you might be interested in: Pythagoras’ Dream, The Ultimate Map of Reality