Description: Do ideas about information and reality inspire fruitful new approaches to the hardest problems of modern physics? What can we learn about the paradoxes of quantum mechanics, the beginning of the universe and our understanding of black holes by thinking about the very essence of information? The answers to these questions are surprising and enlightening, but also controversial. The topic of information within physics has involved some of the 20th century’s greatest scientists in long-running intellectual battles that continue to the present day. In this special debate, hosted by the CBC’s Bob McDonald of ‘Quirks and Quarks’, you will enjoy a lively discussion between four prominent physicists who have thought long and hard about these questions.




Professor Leonard Susskind
Professor Susskind is widely recognized as one of the most highly creative researchers in the field of particle physics. He earned his BSc at City College of New York and his Ph.D. in 1965 at Cornell University. He held a number of positions at the postdoctoral and faculty level afterwards before becoming a Professor in the Department of Physics at Stanford University in 1978, where he continues to work as a Professor of Physics. In October of this year, Professor Susskind joined Perimeter Institute’s Faculty as an Associate Member to spend focused time each year conducting research activities.

He is highly honoured, including having been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), receiving the American Physical Society's prestigious Sakurai Award, as well as the American Institute of Physics' Science Writing Award.

In addition to an outstanding record as a distinguished theoretical physicist, Professor Susskind has a demonstrated interest in communicating science to members of the general public and improving society’s awareness of physics, astronomy, and allied science fields.