Lee Smolin: The Man Who Could Change Your Mind About Everything

Time is for real, argues the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin in his new book Time Reborn. That means we need to revisit the laws that govern gravity, quantum mechanics, even space itself. “Everything we now think is fundamental will also eventually be understood as approximate and emergent,” writes Smolin, who argues for a radical new approach to cosmology.

If time is not an illusion, as physicists have long believed, Smolin could change the way we think about everything. From Newton to Einstein to quantum physicists today, Smolin writes, “I believe–as strongly as one can believe anything in science–that they’re wrong.”

Smolin’s ideas are gaining traction. “Time Reborn places reality above theory in stronger and clearer terms than ever before, and the result is a path to better theory and potentially to a better society as well,” says the computer scientist Jaron Lanier. That is why the book “will no doubt be remembered as one of the essential books of the 21st century.”

Smolin will be appearing in Big Think’s studio for an interview. Now is your chance to submit your questions, in the comments below.