MARCH BOOK
This month we celebrate the Ides of March (and the march of time) with The Order of Time (link ) by Italian physicist and popular science writer Carlo Rovelli. We're back at the Steamworks Brew Pub (Steamworks) next to Waterfront Station; on the heated patio if it's open or inside if not. (It was a bit noisy last time so we may consider other options for future meetings.) Join the fun on the evening of Tuesday, March 7 with the usual 7pm start time. All are welcome, always. And a special welcome to our two newest members.
For most readers this is unfamiliar terrain. We all experience time, but the more scientists learn about it, the more mysterious it remains. We think of it as uniform and universal, moving steadily from past to future, measured by clocks. Rovelli tears down these assumptions one by one, revealing a strange universe where at the most fundamental level time disappears. He explains how the theory of quantum gravity attempts to understand and give meaning to the resulting extreme landscape of this timeless world. Weaving together ideas from philosophy, science and literature, he suggests that our perception of the flow of time depends on our perspective, better understood starting from the structure of our brain and emotions than from the physical universe.
