The Nature of Space and Time: An Evening of Speculation

What do science and philosophical theology have to say to each other about space and time? Is time a continuum? Can in fact the nature of time be separated from the nature of existence and from the human condition?

The discussion will be chaired by the noted Oxford philosopher Jeremy Butterfield: there will be short presentations from each panel member followed by a discussion led by questions from the audience. This is expected to be a lively event fully accessible to the wider public.

The panel members will be:

• Alain Connes (Professor at the College de France, Fields medallist and Crafoord prize winner)

• Rev. Michael Heller (Vatican cosmologist, and Professor of Philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Cracow, Poland)

• Shahn Majid (Professor of Mathematics at the University of London)

• Sir Roger Penrose (Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and a noted public communicator)

• Rev. John Polkinghorne (physicist, theologian, public communicator and winner of the 2002 Templeton Prize)

The panel discussion will take place in the Queen’s Lecture Theatre at Emmanuel College, Cambridge at 8pm on Thursday, 7 September 2006.

Admission is free and the event is open to the public, up to the room capacity. The evening is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and has been organised by the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University.

The panel chairman, Jeremy Butterfield, said “This panel discussion is a rare opportunity to get very distinguished mathematicians, physicists and theologians to explore these issues together, and to engage the public in the discussion.”

The event is part of a 6-month-long scientific programme entitled “Noncommutative Geometry” being held at the Isaac Newton Institute, including a high-level workshop on 4-8 September 2006 on the fundamental structure of space and time.

Shahn Majid, one of the organisers of the Newton Institute programme, said, “The workshop and the programme are about cutting-edge scientific research, but having assembled some world class scientists for that, it’s really great to also have them engage with the public and with other disciplines. I’ve never been happy with misleading soundbites like ‘spacetime is 10-dimensional’ when the truth on these really fundamental questions is much more open to debate. I’d like the public to get a sense of that.”