Alan Lightman

Physicist Alan Lightman considers the possibility of multiple big bangs and discusses quantum tunneling. 

Is it possible to understand everything, or are we chasing an impossible dream—one built on questions that always lead to more questions?

Erica Carmel was unimpressed in her physics class at MIT

Kurt Andersen and novelist and Alan Lightman talk about how art plays with time. Lightman is a novelist and physicist. He is an adjunct Professor of Humanities at MIT and the author of several books including Einstein's Dreams and, most recently, The Diagnosis.

(Originally aired: May 16, 2002)

Kurt Andersen and novelist and Alan Lightman talk about how art plays with time. Lightman is a novelist and physicist. He is an adjunct Professor of Humanities at MIT and the author of several books including Einstein's Dreams and, most recently, The Diagnosis.