About Time

by PaulDavies (Author)

• New

  Paperback
  1996

  $20.56

  The traditional association between time and creation is at the heart of science, cosmology, and religion. When scientists began to explore the implications of Einstein's time for the universe as a whole, they discovered that time is elastic, and can be warped by rapid motion or gravitation, that time cannot be meaningfully divided into past, present, and future, nor does time flow in the popular sense. And they made one of the most important discoveries in the history of human thought: that time, and hence all of physical reality, must have had a definite origin in the past. There can be both a beginning and an end to time. But important though Einstein's theory of time turned out to be, it still did not solve the riddle of time, and the search for a deeper understanding of time and its relationship with the rest of the physical universe remains at the top of the scientific agenda. From black holes, where time stands still, to the bizarre world of quantum physics, where time vanishes completely, Professor Davies finds evidence that our current theories of time simply don't add up. Why, for instance, does the universe appear younger than some of the objects within it? And how does the concept of time emerge from the timeless chaos of the big bang? Is the passage of time merely an illusion? Can time run backwards? Is time travel possible?

• Used

  Hardcover
  1995

  $3.23

  Paul Davies examines the consequences of Einstein's relativety theory, some 100 years after it was first put forward. Important though Einstein's theory turned out to be, it does not solve the riddle of time . The search to find a unified field theory, or Theory of Everything , remains at the top of the scientific agenda. When scientists began to explore the implications of Einstein's time for the universe as a whole, they made the discovery that time, and hence all of physical reality, must have a definite origin in the past. The origin of time is known today as the big bang. In this book, Davies recounts the struggles with the mysteries of time, black holes, time warps, time travel, the existence of God, the nature of the universe and the place of humans in the cosmos.

• New

  Paperback
  1996

  $12.23

  In About Time: Einstein's Unfinished Revolution Paul Davies confronts the puzzles and paradoxes of time that have bemused the world's greatest thinkers throughout the ages. When Albert Einstein formulated his theory of relativity it brought about a revolution in our understanding of time, yet also presented a new set of mysteries. Einstein's time can be warped, leading to bizarre possibilities such as black holes and time travel, while making a nonsense of our perception of a 'now' or a division of time into past, present and future. In About Time Paul Davies tackles the tough questions about time, including the strange relationship between physical time and our psychological perception of it. He gives straightforward descriptions of topics such as the theory of relativity, the relation between time dilation and the speed of light and Hawking's 'imaginary time'. He concludes that, despite decades of progress in unravelling the mysteries of time, the revolution is still underway...Praise for About Time : Confirms his place as one of the most lucid and readable science writers today . ( Sunday Times ). Intriguing and important ...a fascinating discussion of why Einstein's can't be the last word on the subject . ( Independent on Sunday ). Sublime stuff for armchair physicists . ( Guardian ). A tour of some of the most exciting - and outlandish - work in modern physics...Writing with passion and wit, he lets his scientific message shine through . ( New Statesman ). Paul Davies is Director of the BEYOND Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and co-Director of the Cosmology Initiative, both at Arizona State University. An internationally-acclaimed physicist, writer and broadcaster, Davies is the author of some twenty award-winning books, including The Eerie Silence: Searching for Ourselves in the Universe , The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life? and The Mind of God: Science and the Search for Ultimate Meaning .