TALK
THURSDAY 03 FEB 2011, 19H
49 NORD 6 EST - FRAC LORRAINE - METZ (57)
So, what is time?
Étienne Klein, physicist
Etienne Klein
Étienne Klein is one of the experts on the question of time in physics. He has written numerous works on this subject, destined for a wider public.
Time is an untraceable “thing” the existence of which raises no doubt. A “thing” everyone talks about but no one has ever seen. So what is it? Today, it’s physics that offers the most cutting-edge insights into time. From Galileo to Einstein, physics has never ceased asking the question until it opened vertiginous perspectives: did time pre-exist the Universe? How did it start? Could one reverse its course?
Étienne Klein is a physicist, director of research at the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA), and doctor of philosophy in science. Currently, he heads the Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Sciences de la Matière (LARSIM) at CEA.
He is the author of several books, including:
– Les Tactiques de Chronos, Flammarion, 2003. / Chronos: How Time Shapes our Universe, trans. Glenn Burney, Basic Books, 2005
– Petit Voyage dans le monde des quanta, Flammarion, 2004.
– Il était sept fois la révolution, Albert Einstein et les autres, Flammarion, 2005.
– Le facteur temps ne sonne jamais deux fois, Flammarion, 2007.
– Galilée et les Indiens, allons-nous liquider la science ?, coll. Le Café Voltaire, Flammarion, 2008.
Il vient de publier Discours sur l’origine de l’univers, Flammarion, 2010.
Works in English translation:
– The Quest for Unity: The Adventure of Physics (co-authored with Marc Lachièze Rey), trans. Alex Reisinger, Oxford University Press, 1999.
– Conversations with the Sphinx: Paradoxes in Physics, trans. David Le Vay, Souvenir Press, 1997.
