Focusing on the work of Galileo, Newton, Descartes and Einstein, Harvey Brown examines the evolution of thinking about the surprisingly difficult concepts of time and motion.

Big Ideas: Science

Harvey Brown on the Concepts of Time and Motion

Daniel Gottesman of the Perimeter Institute discusses quantum computing and the cryptographic protocols that use quantum physics, and that one day will protect all that which we would want to stay secret.

Daniel Gottesman on Quantum Computing

The author of Struck by Lightning - and the statistician who crunched the numbers to reveal that a statistically improbable number of lottery retailers were winning major prizes in Ontario - Jeffrey Rosenthal guides us through the maze of numbers and percentages to show us to how calculate correct probabilities.

Jeffrey Rosenthal on The Curious World of Probabilities

Janna Levin on her book Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, the story of two great mathematicians, Kurt Godel and Alan Turing. They were men who had the capacity to think about the most abstract of mathematical truths but had very limited abilities when it came to confronting the mundane aspects of life. Both committed suicide.

Janna Levin on her book Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

Nima Arkani-Hamed on the Large Hadron Collider and the Future of Fundamental Physics. Located on the Swiss-French border, the Large Hadron Collider is a circular tunnel 27 km in circumference. It will allow physicists to probe the constituent parts of the proton, looking for new forms of matter and insights into the formation of the universe.

Nima Arkani-Hamed on the Large Hadron Collider

Ecological footprint is an idea originated by William Rees, an environmental economist from the University of British Columbia. If you need a primer in environmental economics, this lecture is for you.

William Rees on Environmental Economics

Marc Abrahams, editor of The Annals of Improbably Research and one of the organizers of the annual Ig-Nobel Prize ceremonies at Harvard University, discusses the work of scientists and academics that, "first makes you laugh, and then makes you think".

Marc Abrahams, editor of The Annals of Improbably Research

Ken Cramer - Psychology, University of Windsor -on Alfred Adler: The Most Famous Personality Theorist You Likely Never Heard Of

Ken Cramer on Alfred Adler

University of Toronto Zoology researcher, Susannah Varmuza, discusses the evolving field of Epigenetics and what research into such things as mouse coat colour is telling scientists about the age-old "nature versus nurture" debate.

Susannah Varmuza on the evolving field of Epigenetics

Clare Hasenkampf of the Biology Department at University of Toronto Scarborough presents her lecture Chromosomes Dividing: How It Is Done and Why It Matters.

Clare Hasenkampf on Chromosomes Dividing

Clare Hasenkampf from the Biology Department at University of Toronto Scarborough is profiled. Hasenkampf's plant biology research and her passion for New Orleans cooking are featured.

Clare Hasenkampf profile - plant biology research

Neurologist and best-selling author, Oliver Sacks, discusses his book Musicophilia. and the ways our brains interact with and understand music.

Oliver Sacks on Musicophilia

Dr. Jill Tarter, Director at the Centre for SETI Research, discusses the ongoing Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence and how new tools including the Allen Telescope Array and the Keplar Spacecraft are helping to make the search much more likely to succeed.

Jill Tarter on the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

Rupinder Brar (Physics - University of Ontario Institute of Technology) is profiled, focusing on his interest in astronomy, his desire to be an astronaut and his political aspirations.

Rupinder Brar profile - Astronomy and political aspirations

Rupinder Brar lectures on the topic of Einstein's special relativity theory and it's explanation of time dilation and simultaneity. The lecture is entitled Relativity, Einstein, the Speed of Light and How to Stay Young.

Rupinder Brar on Relativity, Einstein, and How to Stay Young

Big Ideas Science offers lectures on a wide range of scientific disciplines from quantum physics and climate science to neuroscience and mathematical art. The speakers presented here are guaranteed to get anyone interested in science thinking big.

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Big Ideas: Science

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