Presentation of the book by Giorgio Chinnici: '"Lo specchio del tempo. Simmetrie, inversioni e leggi della fisica” (The Mirror of Time. Symmetries, inversions and laws of physics').

Mirrors upon mirrors, connected one to the others, each one bringing back age-old questions: what is time?

The mirror intrigues because of its ability to double things, people, ourselves. But what exactly does a mirror do, and why does it reverse right with left but not top with bottom? Would we be able to explain to an extraterrestrial civilisation what left and right mean to us?

The ideal of beauty inherent to pure geometry is embedded in the very concept of mirror. Symmetry, indeed, conveys a sense of harmony and balance always been regarded as inherent feature of the nature itself.

We can also place a temporal and a spatial mirror side by side.

Let us imagine a physical phenomenon happening in reverse: does the symmetry of natural laws fit temporal inversion?

Furthermore, matter also is endowed with its own mirror to be reflected on: antimatter.

In his book, Giorgio Chinnici points out the in-depth bond between the three mirrors. The investigation lays bare issues about the very essence of time, whereby the theory of relativity opens up unforeseen horizons and unveils striking phenomena such as the relativity of simultaneity, time dilation and the paradox of twins.

Giorgio Chinnici is a physicist and electronics engineer. Author of six acclaimed books, he has got published under Hoepli and Codice Edizioni. His best-known works include “Il sogno di Democrito. L'atomo dall'antichità alla meccanica quantistica” ("Democritus' Dream. The atom from ancient times to quantum mechanics'), 2020, and “Il segreto del nucleo” (“Nucleus Secret”) Codice, 2023).

Duration: one hour

Cost: free

Booking required