The nature of space and time has puzzled thinkers for centuries and never more so than now. The big questions continue to grip us; is time an illusion? How is space structured? In this academy, acclaimed physicist Julian Barbour will explore the origins of this puzzle, and offer his own surprising solutions to the most important mystery in philosophy and physics.

By the end of the course, you will have learned:

• The philosophical and scientific history of how space and time have been understood.
• The conceptual puzzles surrounding the nature of time, including whether it is an illusion.
• How space is structured according to modern physics.
• Key debates in classical and contemporary physics about the fabric of the universe.
• Julian Barbour’s alternative theories and solutions to the nature of time.
• The implications of these ideas for our understanding of reality and the universe.

As part of the course there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning and discussion boards to have your say.

IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.

Julian Barbour

Independent theoretical physicist working on new ways of understanding relativity and the foundational issues of the universe. His books include The End of Time, The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time, and The Discovery of Dynamics.

• Barbour, J., The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
• Einstein, A., Relativity: The Special and the General Theory, (London: Routledge, 1920).
• Rovelli, C., The Order of Time, (London: Penguin, 2018).
• Greene, B., The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, (New York: Vintage, 2005).
• Smolin, L., Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013).
• Penrose, R., The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe, (London: Vintage, 2005).
• Misner, C. W., Thorne, K. S., & Wheeler, J. A., Gravitation, (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1973).