Normand Mousseau

Biography

Normand Mousseau is Professor of Physics at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Trottier Energy Institute at Polytechnique Montréal. A specialist in the long-term evolution of complex materials, including metallic alloys, glasses and proteins, he is also interested in popularizing science. For six years, he produced and hosted the weekly science program La grande équation on Radio VM in Quebec. He is interested in change at all levels, and is also working on energy and climate policy. He has published several books on the subject for the general public, most recently Gagner la guerre du climat. Douze mythes à déboulonner.

Conference: Do atoms take their time?

How does matter evolve around us? Does it have a built-in clock? Does it age homogeneously? These questions, often asked on the scale of the living, are a matter of either perception or biology. What about protons, atoms and the various materials that surround us? Each of us lives at our own pace, in a universe that seems far removed from our own, even though we are intimately part of it.