Reading Assignment 1 for the lecture on Time.

The WWW is full of information on the nature of time. This information ranges from very detailed (e.g. papers on string theory and general relativity) to crack pot. Below are a few links that I think are at a reasonable level.

In your reading, you are looking for the answer to the question: What is time?

As you read, it might be good to do the following things:

• Do not worry about reading all the material on each of the sites. You should read the main page and try to understand the discussion.
• If you have a question about something you read, make a note and ask in class or office hours.
• Keep a notebook (3 ring binder, or an electronic version) of explanations you think are particually good, or that help you understand the material.

Topics and links:

The first (and most important things) to read are assignments in the book. We will jump around in the book quite a bit. The assignment for today is Section 1.1. Do not worry about understanding all details. We will discuss more difficult concepts in class, and feel free to ask is a question from your reading is not answered.

Additional reading if you have time (ha ha)

History of time - Too much material, but fun to look at some of it: http://physics.nist.gov/GenInt/Time/time.html

Introduction - From PBS with a number of good links: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/through.html

Return to the reading assignments page.