This interview is an episode from The Well, our new publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the John Templeton Foundation.

Is our experience of time different from how time actually works? Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist and author of The Joy of Science, offers a lesson on the science of time — from Newton to Einstein to quantum thermodynamics.

Going beyond the classical “common sense” view of time as absolute, Al-Khalili explains how Einstein changed everything when he taught us that time is relative and time and space are connected.

“Time," says Al-Khalili. “ticks by at different rates for different people depending on your frame of reference, and it’s malleable and it’s stretchable.”

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About Jim Al-Khalili:

Jim is a multiple award-winning science communicator renowned for his public engagement around the world through writing and broadcasting and a leading academic making fundamental contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in nuclear reaction theory, quantum effects in biology, open quantum systems and the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Jim is a theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in the public engagement in science. He received his PhD in nuclear reaction theory in 1989 and has published widely in the field. His current interest is in open quantum systems and the application of quantum mechanics in biology.

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About The Well

Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds.

So what do they think?

How is the power of science advancing understanding? How are philosophers and theologians tackling these fascinating questions?

Let’s dive into The Well.

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