Do You Know What Time It Is?

Particle physicist Professor Brian Cox asks, 'What time is it?' It's a simple question and it sounds like it has a simple answer. But do we really know what it is that we're asking? He investigates the concept of time, exploring its origins and its limits, and questioning whether travelling through it will ever be possible.

Brian visits the ancient Mayan pyramids in Mexico where the Maya built temples to time. He finds out that a day is never 24 hours and meets Earth's very own Director of Time. He journeys to the beginning of time, and goes beyond within the realms of string theory, and explores the very limit of time. He discovers that we not only travel through time at the speed of light,but the experience we feel as the passing of time could be an illusion.

In this documentary the presenter does deliver an engaging film where he attempts to explain contemporary theories about what time is, when or if it started and what it means to us.

I had seen one of his documentaries before, it was about quantum physics and it was great. But this one is even better. Going to different places around the world to meet the thinkers and discuss there ideas is a great way of filling the film with visual content. It is always curious to see how all these different people live.

But for all the science conveyed in the film, in the end the fundamental question still remains, which may be more philosophical than scientific: What actually is time? My own simplistic theory is that Time Is; As in the notion of the verb "to be". It cannot be separated from anything and it is everything at the same time.

"What Time Is It?" asks Prof Brian Cox at the end of the BBC Horizon program "Do you know what time it is?"

Some of the answers given by physicists are

Prof Irwin Shapiro: That depends. Are you talking about Universal time? Are you talking about Eastern time? Prof Steven Beckwith: It's 13.7 billion years. That's what time it is. Dr Dennis McCarthy: It's not an easy question to answer. Dr Fay Dowker: A great time to be a physicist. Prof Saul Perlmutter: Just about time to go home & have dinner. Prof Max Tegmark: It's a great question although some great questions actually turn out to be trick ones. Prof Neil Turok: The time today is something we have no idea about. Prof Brian Cox: We might not be in a position at this moment in time with our current understanding of nature to even understand what it is that we are asking.

& the greatest answer of all

Prof Dr Amar V: See the bottom right of your monitor if you are reading this in Windows OS. If you are using other OS change it to Windows & then see the bottom right corner. (Oh commooooon, I took a lot of time for this line & my effort deserves at least a smile.)

In this BBC Horizon program, Prof Brian Cox meets various physicists & tries to explain several questions such as what is time, how is it calculated accurately (quasar, atomic clock), is it even possible to calculate it, etc,. Along the journey to find answers, Einstein's General Relativity & Quantum Physics are also slightly brushed.

This is a very very interesting & fun programme from BBC Horizon. The graphics are very impressive & editing is good. There are some cool scenes such as the one where Brian is shot with an ultra slowmotion camera or the one showing Hubble space telescope's picture of our universe when it is only 700-800 million years old. I felt very thrilled seeing that early universe picture.

A highly recommended program. If you got any time to spare, google this title & watch it unless you hate physics or astronomy.