The Big Picture: From the Big Bang to the Meaning of Life - with Sean Carroll

Award-winning scientist and writer Sean Carroll ties together the fundamental laws of physics governing the workings of the cosmos with the everyday human experience we all share.

The talk, given at the Royal Institution in October 2016, will take us on a breath-taking journey from the origin of the Universe, through the evolution of life and consciousness, to the eternal question of what it all really means.

Dr Sean Carroll is an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology. He has written a variety of popular science books along with textbooks and has long been interested in the biggest questions in astronomy: Where does probability come from? How does time work? What is dark matter and dark energy?

This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 17 October 2016.

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[TheRoyalInstitution]

Important announcement : we've dropped the audio levels on our deafening intro! On a scale of mouse whisper to jet plane, how's it sound?

[Raptorel]

I can't get enough of Sean Carroll. I think he's the best science communicator that we currently have - he is simply brilliant, has a subtle sense of humor, a great communicator, great voice, patient, well-intentioned, genuine, and very logically consistent. And yes, I did read "The Big Picture".

So grateful to the RI for producing and publishing these online. Great stuff.

[manuelbolivar]

Sean has a particularly poetic way to convey extremely complex ideas. His last words in the lecture made realize that there are plenty of subjects that are worth to be involved with. Thanks for posting.

[Ploskkky]

It is always such a pleasure to listen to Carroll's lectures.

[quintessenceSL]

Always pleased to hear Sean Carroll talk.

[davebowles]

I'm always on the lookout for Sean Carroll lectures. He is an amazing speaker with a pleasant voice that is calming. This one is fantastic.
My only problem is that I wish I would have found this one earlier. It's in my saved videos now.
I'd like to add that I love the RI channel, thank you.

[krishnankuttykunnampallil]

We feel a rare beauty in his speeches. Always aesthetically satisfying, intellectually edifying, and morally ennobling.

[ScottWengel]

i think this may be one of the most efficient or important 1-hour lectures a layperson could listen to

[killjaqular]

this man's persona/character/showmanship, vibes just like Richard Feynman's.
that's a compliment.

[ManuelBasiri]

This is one of the best lectures from Sean and one of the best from RI overall. Thank you.

[peteryang]

What's most underrated in Sean Carrol's lecture is the absence of annoying umm or so, resulting in an orderly and clean (high entropy) learning experience.

[KieranGarland]

My favourite public communicator of science, doing his thing. Great talk, thanks for sharing.

[lenn]

Listening to Sean Carroll talk about science is always such a treat. His ability to communicate complex ideas in a way that is very accessible yet doesn't feel oversimplified or dumbed down is a rare treasure which the scientifically (and philosophically) curious public can be immensely grateful for. Not everyone can become a theoretical physicist and comprehensively understand humanity's best theories about the fundamental nature of reality, but thanks to people like Sean, us non-physicists can at least get a taste of the marvels and puzzles which physical theory has in store for us.

I'd also like to express my gratitude to The Royal Institution for making these ideas available to a wide audience. I think it's a real shame how relatively small the audience for these accessible yet scientifically rigorous ideas still is and how large the market for pseudoscience and pop science that has been oversimplified to the point of meaninglessness remains. What you public communicators of science are doing is a very noble thing indeed and it seems to me that you don't receive nearly the amount of praise you deserve for this. Please rest assured that what you're doing has had and continues to have a great impact on the mindset of many (young) people such as myself. Let's hope that this is just the beginning.

[michaelkahama]

I have watched this video more than 1000 times online. I downloaded it and listen to it before I sleep and while sleeping to an extent I dreamt meeting Sean Carroll here in Kenya when he came for a science conference in Nairobi and we met on the streets and I asked him questions about entropy. When my morning alarm went off I felt like crying because that was one of my most beautiful dreams in 2023. This video and the book the Big Picture made me view life differently. Especially the 3 billion heartbeats we experience. Humility 💯

[robertgoss]

Dr. Carroll's delivery of complex ideas is razor sharp and refreshingly uncluttered. Outstanding presentation.

[baberoot]

That suit...is the Big Bang! I mean...The Bomb!. Love Sean Carroll. A very well spoken physicist, who has an uncanny knack for explaining his craft to the lay person...i.e...me. Very well done.

[virajelix]

Sooo Goood!!! Sean Carroll must win the Noble Price of having the great capacity to elaborate the Universe and its nature. Thank you Dr. Sean Carroll for such beautiful lecture.

[myopenmind]

Sean Carroll (the physicist) is one of the best science communicators out there. He understands his subject matter so well that he can explain it in simple terms to his audience. A rare talent among senior academics in my experience.

(B.t.w. Sean Carroll the evolutionary biologist is also another of my favorite speakers)

Can we have the two Sean Carroll’s on the same stage talking about cosmic and biological evolution from their perspectives. The two should meet somewhere in the middle around abiogenesis.

[jonbona]

My favourite communicator of science! A brilliant man with a gift for teaching.