What is time? Is it something real or an illusion that will end as soon as any kind of "change" in our Universe ceases? Does time exist or emerge from a timeless World? Do we think and live "within" or "outside" of time? Do we live in a Boltzmann universe or in a Leibniz universe? Free will or fate? Change or eternity? Individuality or uniformity? Are the laws of physics immutable and timeless or do they evolve over time, within the framework of cosmological natural selection? These are the kind of contradictions posed - and answered - by the distinguished theoretical physicist Lee Smolin. He redefines physics and directly challenges Einstein, who considered time essential for describing the Universe.

"In the past, I adopted the fictional nature of time. I longed to replace the time-bound world of humans with a world of pure and timeless mathematical truth. Today, I find myself on the opposite shore: nothing we know or experience comes closer to the heart of nature than the reality of the existence of time. The cause for this liberating denial of scientific orthodoxy lies in the recent developments in cosmology. The next revolution in theoretical physics is on the horizon. The key to the meaning of quantum theory and its ultimate unification with space, time, gravity, and cosmology lies in time. In order to understand the image of the Universe as it is revealed to us, we must embrace the reality of the existence of time in a new way. This is what I mean by the "Renaissance of Time".