The Arrow of Time & Entropy

New Year just hours away… The Wheel of the World

The Arrow of Time & Entropy

I’m getting a late start today. When New Year goals meet the reality of post-New Year’s Eve spent with friends, one must expect lags.

I have a new calendar hanging on my kitchen wall. The theme is Shake by photographer Carli Davidson. I love dogs and especially love imaginative and whimsical things. Combine the two and you’ve got a winner as far as I’m concerned. Check out her fun site. This particular calendar has captured motion shots of dogs shaking off water. The jowly dogs are particularly hilarious.

Anyway, I found myself thinking of calendars this morning. Calendars and time.

In 1927, English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Sir Arthur Eddington, wrote a book entitled The Nature of the Physical World. In it he coins the memorable phrase the arrow of time. It’s the idea that time flows in one direction only, as it does for us. An arrow to describe time makes sense when you consider we live linear lives as life on earth does. Think about it. We begin and we end and it all happens in one direction.

Eddington’s time’s arrow concept is built upon specific points and I’m sure were you to go looking, you’d discover the specifics of what he was getting at. But you’d also find time doesn’t actually operate in one direction. It all boils down to what we are able to see. In other words, time as we know it is what it is because it’s seen through our lens. It’s a far larger concept.

Theoretical cosmology is the place to go to explain this. One specialist in general relativity is CalTech physicist Sean M. Carroll. He has a knack for breaking time and space down in nice digestible points. Enjoy. :)

Here’s the long version. Fascinating stuff, time.

Tomorrow ~ the Calendar

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