Time - the fourth dimension (2013 Flame Challenge)

"Time - the fourth dimension" by Ira Glickstein, PhD, is my entry for Alan Alda's 2013 "Flame Challenge" that asks "What is Time?" (See science details at http://tvpclub.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-is-time-alan-aldas-2013-flame.html)

As a system engineer, inventor, and college professor, I strongly support the goal of the Stony Brook Center for Communicating Science "to enhance understanding of science by helping train the next generation of scientists ..."

My video about Time gets into some of the relativistic aspects of travel at speeds that are a significant fraction of the speed of light. I expect it to be understandable as well as interesting, informative, and a perhaps a bit of an intellectual challenge for the active minds of the target audience - fifth graders who are closer in age to my five grandchildren than to me.

I've always been interested in science and technology and have written about the ancient physics of Plato and Aristotle (http://tvpclub.blogspot.com/search?q=aristotle)as well as the more recent physics and cosmology of Einstein (http://tvpclub.blogspot.com/search?q=einstein) and Hawking (http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/queenbeebooks).

My PhD (Binghamton University) is in System Science and I currently teach an online graduate course in System Engineering for the University of Maryland University College. Prior to my retirement, I was a Senior Systems Engineer at IBM and Lockheed-Martin in the area of advanced avionics and visionics and my name appears on five US patents (route planning, decision aiding, ...)