Relativity and Navigation

The stories of Time, Relativity and Navigation are inextricably linked. This talk will bring out the history and physics of the connections. We will see that the practical problem of navigation led to better clocks, and a better understanding of Time and the behavior of Light. These developments fed into the Theory of Relativity and culminated in the Global Positioning system (GPS), which we now routinely use today to find our way.

About the speaker

Prof. Joseph Samuel is a theoretical physicist with an interest in popularising Science. His interests are in geometry and topology in physics. He likes to keep in touch with mathematics as well as experiments. He studied physics at IIT Kanpur and at the IISc, Bangalore and then joined the Raman Research Institute. He is now at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), Bangalore and contributes to the outreach effort, teaching and research.