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The concept of nothing is as old as zero itself. How do we grapple with the concept of nothing? From the best laboratory vacuums on Earth to the vacuum of space to what lies beyond, the idea of nothing continues to intrigue professionals and the public alike.

Join Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson as he moderates the world's leading voices in this great scientific debate, live from the LeFrak Theater of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

J. Richard Gott: Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, author of Sizing Up the Universe: The Cosmos in Perspective

Jim Holt: Science journalist, author of Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story

Lawrence Krauss: Professor of Physics, Arizona State University, author of A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing

Charles Seife: Professor of Journalism, New York University, author of Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Eva Silverstein: Professor of Physics, Stanford University, co-editor of Strings, Branes and Gravity

8 Comments

1. 1. DrHopeful 12:45 PM 3/20/13

   I've followed this interesting discussion. My view, for what it's worth, is that nothing (or nothingness) is a concept in the mind which has no existential import, that is it does not exist in reality. Something like infinity.

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2. 2. SimpleMind 01:20 PM 3/20/13

   Where's Seinfeld? How can you have a debate about nothing without him. A debate about nothing without Seinfeld is, well, less than nothing.

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3. 3. katman in reply to SimpleMind 03:54 PM 3/20/13

   Seinfeld is Einstein masquerading as a comedian.

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4. 4. drimpostor 09:09 PM 3/20/13

   Does nothing exist absolutely?
   Since everything exists in time, that which doesn't exist at one point in time, does exist at another point in time. Therefore, it is not nothing...
   Is nothingness, then, not just a relative term? Like all other descriptors...
   An apple is not an apple absolutely it is a collection of atoms and space. Atoms are not atoms absolutely. Atoms smaller particles, etc. Doesn't nothing-ness and something-ness therefore are emergent.

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5. 5. drimpostor 09:12 PM 3/20/13

   Does nothing exist absolutely?
   Since everything exists in time, that which doesn't exist at one point in time, does exist at another point in time. Therefore, it is not nothing...
   Is nothingness, then, not just a relative term? Like all other descriptors...
   An apple is not an apple absolutely it is a collection of atoms and space. Atoms are not atoms absolutely. Atoms smaller particles, etc. Nothing-ness and something-ness therefore are emergent, rather than absolute, qualities. Words to describe the ever changing states of things, the disparities between things in time.

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6. 6. SimpleMind 11:03 AM 3/21/13

   We need Kramer in on this also.

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7. 7. unifyer 09:45 AM 4/1/13

   It is not nothingness, it is 'not being', which is an actual entity. On human level it's called 'a woman' and it explains where men come from. On material level it's called 'heaven' and explains where matter comes from.
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1wJMinTGps

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8. 8. eco-steve 07:05 PM 4/2/13

   It's like the debate about transubstantiation...

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