Book Description

Visit the author's Web site at www.11PicsOfTime.com

Time is a mystery that has perplexed humankind since time immemorial. Resolving this mystery is of significance not only to philosophers and physicists but is also a very practical concern. Our perception of time shapes our values and way of life; it also mediates the interaction between science and religion both of which rest fundamentally on assumptions about the nature of time.

C K Raju begins with a critical exposition of various time-beliefs, ranging from the earliest times through Augustine, Newton and Einstein to Stephen Hawking and current notions of chaos and time travel. He traces the role of organised religion in subverting time beliefs for its political ends. The book points out how this resulted in a facile dichotomy between 'linear' and 'cyclic' time, thereby inaugurating a confusion which, according to the author, has handicapped Western thought ever since, eventually influencing the content of science itself. Thus, this book daringly asserts that physical theory, traditionally regarded as amoral and objective, has depended on cultural beliefs about time.

The author points out that time beliefs are again being manipulated today as the credibility of science is being exploited to promote a picture of time and, hence, a pattern of human behaviour which is convenient to the agenda of globalisation of culture. The linkages between modern theology and this 'brave new physics' are traced against the wider context of the so-called 'clash of civilisations', and the attempts to remake the world order.

The conclusions point to the need to de-theologise time. The author challenges Einstein's understanding of relativity theory and suggests that a 'tilt in the arrow of time', or a small tendency towards cyclicity, will help repair the prevalent confusion about time. A 'tilt' also enables a physics that permits both memory and creativity, so that purpose and spontaneous growth of order are returned to human life. The book ends with a vision of Man as Creator, surprising God.

Extensive research in physics, the history of science, comparative religions, and sociology lend weight to the important and challenging conclusions reached by the author. Written as a rejoinder to Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, this book goes much further and, unlike any previous book, it gives a critical exposition of various world religions-Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Jainism-while exploring their intricate links, through time beliefs, to current physics on the one hand, and to global political and economic trends, on the other. This book will appeal to scholars and laypersons equally. It will fascinate anyone who reads it and will teach its readers to question the unquestionable.

Book Description

Reveals the Mayan calendar to be a spiritual device that describes the evolution of human consciousness from ancient times into the future.

• Shows the connection between cosmic evolution and actual human history.

• Provides a new science of time that explains why time not only seems to be speeding up in the modern world but actually is getting faster.

• Explains how the end of the Mayan calendar is not the end of the world, but a path toward enlightenment.

The prophetic Mayan calendar is not keyed to the movement of planetary bodies. Instead, it functions as a metaphysical map of the evolution of consciousness and records how spiritual time flows, providing a new science of time.

The calendar is associated with nine creation cycles, which represent nine levels of consciousness or Underworlds on the Mayan cosmic pyramid. Using empirical research Calleman shows how this pyramidal structure of the development of consciousness can explain matters as disparate as the common origin of world religions and the modern complaint that time seems to be moving faster. Time, in fact, is speeding up as we transition from the materialist Planetary Underworld that governs us today to a new and higher frequency of consciousness--the Galactic Underworld--in preparation for the final Universal level of conscious enlightenment. Calleman reveals how the Mayan calendar is a spiritual device that enables a greater understanding of the nature of conscious evolution throughout human history and the concrete steps we can take to align ourselves with this growth toward enlightenment. ... Read more

Book Description

In this new edition of Questioning the Millennium, best-selling author Stephen Jay Gould applies his wit and erudition to one of today's most pressing subjects: the significance of the millennium.

In 1950 at age eight, prompted by an issue of Life magazine marking the century's midpoint, Stephen Jay Gould started thinking about the approaching turn of the millennium. In this beautiful inquiry into time and its milestones, he shares his interest and insights with his readers. Refreshingly reasoned and absorbing, the book asks and answers the three major questions that define the approaching calendrical event. First, what exactly is this concept of a millennium and how has its meaning shifted? How did the name for a future thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth get transferred to the passage of a secular period of a thousand years in current human history? When does the new millennium really begin: January 1, 2000, or January 1, 2001? (Although seemingly trivial, the debate over this issue tells an intriguing story about the cultural history of the twentieth century.) And why must our calendars be so complex, leading to our search for arbitrary regularity, including a fascination with millennia? This revised edition begins with a new and extensive preface on a key subject not treated in the original version.

As always, Gould brings into his essays a wide range of compelling historical and scientific fact, including a brief history of millennial fevers, calendrical traditions, and idiosyncrasies from around the world; the story of a sixth-century monk whose errors in chronology plague us even today; and the heroism of a young autistic man who has developed the extraordinary ability to calculate dates deep into the past and the future.

Ranging over a wide terrain of phenomena--from the arbitrary regularities of human calendars to the unpredictability of nature, from the vagaries of pop culture to the birth of Christ--Stephen Jay Gould holds up the mirror to our millennial passions to reveal our foibles, absurdities, and uniqueness--in other words, our humanity. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

the millennium question unsolved
In his lively book Stephen Jay Gould offers a lot of fascinating material as to how the millennium question has been treated with in modern times. But when it comes to the fundamental matter, that is to the establishment of the Chistian numbering of years in the 6th century, Gould commits the all too common mistake to believe he can solve a historical question by common sense. He should have taken his time to look into the sources at hand concerning Dionysius Exiguus and Beda Venerabilis. He would then have detected that the millennium question is of an even more intricate nature than he had imagined, and in particular has something to do with the calculation of the full moon.

The Millennnium: Just a Thousand Years
As the year 2000 approached us, millennial worries proved quite the cash crop for pop culture. Although Gould goes into a lot of detail, providing more than most of us ever cared to know about the millennium, his book is a valuable and very necessary addition to an aspect of our culture that generally seems to promote fear in its beholders. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Gould encourages us to plunge onward, forward into the twenty-first century, eyes wide open.

Questioning the Millennium
Stephen Jay Gould is entertaining. His work Questioning the Millennium is that questioning, but entertaining. I like Gould as an author and his essays are thought provoking.

This work is no different. Complex calendars and the idea of a millennium and how it effects us as a whole. A whole host of ideas brought to us from Gould's questioning mind.

This is a rather short work of essays, but no less provoking. As with all of Gould's essays... either you like them or despise them, idiosyncrasies and all.

Nonetheless this is entertaining.

A Joyous Quest In Search Of The Millenium
Without a doubt, this is one of the thinner volumes in Gould's prolific canon of fine scientific writing. Once more we are blessed with Gould's excellent erudition and prose, looking at the concept of a millenium from religious, historical and scientific perspectives. Although Gould does not give a definitive answer as to when the current millenium begins, he does acknowledge that traditionalists would regard 2001 as the start of the 21st Century and the third millenium of the Christian Era. Anyone interested in a joyous, intriguing look on the notion of a millenium should not miss this slender tome.

Readable but Not As Good As It Could Have Been
I like Gould's writing and his thinking, on the occasions he thinks. But he, like too many science essayists, gives into an urge to emote and to put aside that vaunted rationalism. Instead, he irrationally sides with popular opinion on when the new millennium began and then tells a somewhat moving but totally irrelevant story about a mentally handicapped young man who can calculate what day of the week a day came out. He also indulges, less than usual, in his dislike of religion.

As a stylist, Gould is among the best in the world of science. As a thinker, he's someone to reckon with. But as a total writer, he needs a bit of help. Still, this is a good history lesson. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Einstein may have shown that space and time are parts of the same thing, but that doesn't help us understand either one. Science journalist John Langone teams up with National Geographic to present the past, present, and future of our thinking about the so-called fourth dimension in The Mystery of Time. This oversized book combines eloquent descriptions of our long-failed attempts to grapple with the concept with sharp, often striking photographs of timepieces and timekeepers from around the world and far back in history. Langone can find elements of interest in even the most abstruse philosophical or scientific tract, and his reporting is full of stories like the invention of the astrolabe in the ancient world. He can be forgiven for ordering his book chronologically--after the overview of the concept, he regresses back to ancient notions and measurements before pulling the reader quickly forward through industrialization to today's world of eighth-generation atomic clocks. While The Mystery of Time can't promise a thorough understanding of its subject (what can?), it does offer a glorious tour. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Book Description

Time is fundamental to our experience, but remains mysterious. This book shows how philosophers and scientists have tried to grapple with this most extraordinary of ordinary phenomena. From the attempts of early astronomers to reconcile solar and lunar and terrestrial reckonings, to the huge expansions and contractions of time consciousness brought on by scientists as diverse as Newton, Darwin, and Einstein, this book shows how time is as much a matter of human choice as it is a matter of scientific precision. ... Read more

Book Description

The nature of time has long fascinated physicists and the general public. As an irresistible flow into which all events are embedded, time cannot be slowed or accelerated, nor can it be undone or turned back. In The River of Time , Igor Novikov describes how the thinkers throughout history have defined time and how these discoveries demonstrate that humans may influence time's flow. He describes how time flows in specific regions of the Universe, how it stops in black holes and splashes over the brim in white holes, and how time may convert into space and vice versa. Exploring time's genesis at the Big Bang, Novikov details how recent discoveries indicate that time machine travel might be possible. Igor Novikov is the Director of the Theoretical Astrophysics Center and Professor of the Astronomical Observatory of Copenhagen University. He began his scientific career at the Moscow State University and has since been affiliated with the Institute of Applied Mathematics, Moscow, the Space Research Institute, Moscow, and Copenhagen University. He has published more than 250 scientific papers and 150 articles and is the co-author of Edwin Hubble: Discoverer of the Big Bang (Cambridge, 1993) and Black Holes and the Universe (Cambridge, 1993).Previous paperback edition (1998) 0-521-46737-3 ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not a bad alternative to the "Brief History of Time".
This colorful book written by top Russian astrophysicist and cosmologist excels in explaining possibilities of traveling in time. Professor Novikov (Center of Theoretical Astrophysics in Copenhagen) strongly believes that it will be possible to construct Time Machine, as there are no existing physical laws that could prevent it. According to him we could use Black and White Holes as well as time loops, gravitational tunneling and curvature of space-time to achieve it. I truly enjoyed these half scientific, half fictitious theories. His speculations about Black and White Holes and how they could be utilized in the future to help our civilization in obtaining much needed energy, are fascinating. Book contains history of physics and digs into the past when scientists and philosophers started to think about TIME and how its "arrow" affects Universe and everything around us. Author writes about his life in Soviet Union where he graduated, started to work with famous father of Russian cosmologists Yakov Zeldovich and exchanged ideas with Andrei Sakharov. These years (1960-es) where difficult for scientists in Russia - they were quite isolated, having limited possibilities to meet their colleagues from the West. Scientific and historical details are presented in an easy to read, humorous and interesting manner (style). I strongly recommend this book as an alternative to the "Brief History of Time". Novikov's book is as good as Stephen Hawking's masterpiece.

some good time but not enough
While Novikov did present some good and interesting info on the nature of time, there was not enough. If you are interested in Navikov's personal life in science or some of the history of Russian science, there is much of that here. If you are only interested in the nature of time discussions there is way too much irrelevant material. Yet still the time ideas are worth the struggle through the rest.

Makes you wonder...
I'm rediscovering my desire to learn more about the theoretical physics, an interest I had to leave behind while earning degrees in electrical engineering.

Igor has written an amazing book and the English translation is up to the mark. This book is nothing to be scared about, coz without going in mathematical details of tensor analysis! he has presented the complex ideas in plain english. All you have to know is basic high school physics. Igor's writing style is personal and you'd feel an afinity towards him while reading his personal accounts.

The chapters in the end need a bit more concentration but it pays off big and makes you wonder 'can this reallt be! '.

The chapter on time machine is really wonderful, and you might have to read it couple of times to get a better grasp of the concepts.

Like any other subject, you can't learn all about the wonders of quantum physics by reading just one book but it will give you a solid foundation to go ahead and pick the next book on the subject matter.

A fantastic voyage into the Mysteries of Time
Very well written, especially interesting is the mixture of anecdotes and biographical data on the scientists and their theories, so this is not a 'cold' science divulgation book. In just 200+ pages, the author reviews most of moderm Physics, with elegancy and simplicity. The speculations and descriptions of Time Machine at the end of the book are simply fascinating, and make your fantasy fly. Very suitable for laic people and also for science students and professionals. ... Read more

Book Description

In THE MISSING MOMENT a distinguished molecular biologist explores the nature of time and argues for a radical rethinking of how time affects our sense of self, our mortality, and the future of science and medicine. Only in the past few years have we learned enough about the brain for this remarkable book to be written. We know now that our brains continually filter the present through memories and emotions of the past. In fact, strictly speaking, we live in the past: since it takes the brain a second to process perceptions, what we think is the present actually happened a second ago. We also know where and how the unconscious operates and how painful memories are repressed; repression is not a psychological defect but an evolutionary necessity for our species. All thought, even the most rational, is permeated with unconscious feelings, fears, and emotions. Scientists, like the rest of us, make choices for reasons they don't understand. Thus the direction of scientific research is driven by private demons, not public needs. We can see this in medical science, where doctors develop the tools to diagnose genetic diseases they cannot cure, bringing pain rather than comfort to patients. Today science can do more good than ever before, and it can also do more harm. The time has come for scientists and others to abandon the notion that there is any such thing as the disinterested pursuit of truth. Instead, they must strive for a therapeutic self-awareness of their unconscious agendas and work for larger goals than personal immortality. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A true thinker's delight!
This book is truly a thinker's delight. It challenges traditional notions of science and examines our 'scientific' pursuits in relation to our own consciousness. This is a book that is instrumental in our evolution as we develop into more self-conscious beings in the future. Another delightful book that discusses this phenomenon so clearly and interestingly is 'The Ever-Transcending Spirit' by Toru Sato. It explains this material in relation to human relationships as well. I must say that both books are quite astounding if you are a true thinker.

On-target entreaty tainted by Freudian psychobabble
Pollack's fascinatingly presented--and infuriatingly argued--book makes two contentions: that medical science spends most of its efforts on defying the inevitability of death (rather than preventing disease and alleviating suffering), and that the reason for this lopsided strategy is a collective unconscious fear of death by most health professionals. "The Missing Moment" of the title refers both metaphorically to the gap between knowledge and wisdom and literally to the half second during which unconscious machinations affect and transform the thoughts and actions of everyone--including scientists.

Pollack's first argument is expertly and cogently presented in, strangely enough, the second half of the book. The author discusses infectious diseases, cancer, and aging; he convincingly (and rightly) shows that the medical establishment has come to rely too heavily on antibiotics to cure infection (rather than vaccines to achieve deterrence), risky and painful procedures to treat cancer (rather than behavioral and environmental changes to prevent it), and attempts to delay death (rather than efforts to improve the quality of one's remaining life). The informative notes are not to be skipped, and a must-read appendix outlines Pollack's views for a more humane medical agenda.

In the first half of the book, however, Pollack dilutes the force of his appeal by waving a Freudian wand and suggesting that health professionals are blinded by a collective unconscious desire: their own fear of death. Although Pollack discusses some fascinating aspects of how the mind works and how it affects human behavior, he is not a psychotherapist and--more to the point--he did not examine the scientists he is analyzing in anything resembling a clinical setting (other than, I gather, to read their publications and mingle with them at conferences).

Completing lacking from his analysis is either proof that the research conducted by most scientists is motivated primarily by an unconscious fear of death (rather than any of a dozen other intentions) or--more important--a causal connection between that fear and their research. There are dozens of possible, obvious reasons the medical establishment pursues its death-defying agenda--and Pollack simply ignores all of them. For example, a cynic would cite the profit motive: after all, the amount of money made on preventing or curing smallpox last year was exactly $0.00, while trillions were made by corporations on medicines that treat or cure (rather than prevent or eradicate) most other diseases. Or, alternatively, an idealist might point out that devoting the resources of the last two decades to finding an AIDS vaccine would barbarically have required doctors to abandon the hundreds of thousands of people whose immune systems were already compromised. As Pollack himself points out in his appendix, "the purpose of medicine [is] to alleviate or cure the suffering of a person already here among us"--by concentrating first on the development of protease inhibitors and other treatments, isn't that exactly what scientists did (however myopic it might seem to us now)?

What's baffling about Pollack's attempt at collective psychotherapy is that it is not essential to his basic agenda--changing the priorities of the world's health systems. The net effect is that his intriguing and humane entreaty is undermined by the alienation most of his colleagues must experience when reading his blanket condemnation of their motives.

The Magic Neologism
By using fanciful metaphors (e.g., the "clocks"), Pollack expects to get away with transforming mundane observations into regular Zen experiences. -- For this I could just watch an episode of Star Trek: The Sophomoric Generation.

For example, he takes the well-known half-second lag between input and sensation and concludes that "time... for all of us, is demonstrably a half second in the past."

(If you believe this, then perhaps you will believe that bullets travel into the future because they arrive at their targets faster than the sound of the gun going off.)

Imagine 200 pages of these "insights," and you have "The Missing Moment."

Captivating
The Missing Moment is a fascinating book. It sweeps through different areas of biology and psychology with all the excitement a professor giddy about his field can muster. The book begins by laying a theme of the human condition's impact on where science is going and where it's been. He goes into a an interesting description of the senses and the roles they play in our interaction with the world, while also touching on the "magical" half-second delay (better explained in books like Tor Norretranders' The User Illusion). After this, he delves into a little more psychology and tries to show explicitly why science is handicapped (or bolstered, he lets the user decide for himself) by the brain's unique perspective of the world.

One complaint: he doesn't seem to follow the initial goal he sets for himself in the book's first few sections. The several latter chapters, while extremely interesting and pointed, laced delicately throughout by fascinating personal anecdotes, miss the book's central point by a noticeable amount. But, this by no means detracts from its overall message, just cuts into it a bit. The book is still marvelously fascinating and really gives the reader an illuminating perspective on the three pound universe lurking between his ear drums. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Revealing and involving in its depth and detail
While it may be hard to easily categorize this title, it should become a mainstay of college-level collections of all sizes and types. Selling the True Time studies the transition from local to national timekeeping and a world-wide system of keeping time in the late 1800s. Until the railroads become involved, American lacked any uniform system to coordinate times: this charts the early involvement of the railroads in a process which transformed the world. Revealing and involving in its depth and detail, this is highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

Insightful scientist, exceptional teacher, ingenious inventor, successful entrepreneur, and acclaimed artist-Harold E. "Doc" Edgerton, chief developer of the electronic strobe, was all of these. Whatever his guise, he taught by his own example that science is an exciting adventure in which having fun and satisfying one's curiosity are important parts of even the most "technical" enterprise.

This innovative CD-ROM was created to capture some of Edgerton's spirit and vision and to transmit it to a new generation. Users not only learn about his life and philosophy but enter his world-famous laboratory--Strobe Alley at MIT--and play with some of the experiments he created to "see the unseen," to observe events that happen at high speeds.

Users can choose from three "rooms": Biography, Archives, and Strobe Alley. In the Biography room users explore a wide array of topics highlighting Edgerton's life and the impulses behind his work, examining an extensive library of films clips and other materials along the way. In the Archives room users view Edgerton's fascinating visual work and see how it was created; subject headings include Drops and Splashes, Bullets and Blasts, Athletics, Humans in Motion, Creatures, and Observations. In Strobe Alley users can actually leaf through his explanatory videos and texts while they operate experiments that will help them to understand the dynamics of flowing water, bursting balloons, bouncing balls, and rotating fans; to find out what goes on inside a strobe in a camera; and even to sample a set of nineteenth-century toys that stop and then reconnect flows of movement.

Users of all ages will find Exploring the Art and Science of Stopping Time an ideal introduction to science, art, and technology as sources of fun as well as insight.

The CD-ROM is playable on computers using either Apple Macintosh (7.x or later) or Windows (3.1, 95, or 98) operating systems. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Stopping Time
STOPPING TIME

"Exploring the Art and Science of Stopping Time" is a CD ROM that lets you discover the incredible work and photos of Harold Edgerton, who invented the strobe light to aid him in studying problems with electric motors. You roam the halls of MIT entering "Doc" Edgerton's Lab, Work Archive, or Life Biography rooms.

In the "Lab" you control strobe experiments. You can research how Edgerton developed strobe, high speed photography, and movie techniques.

In the "Archive" you can view hundreds of pictures and movie clips like the famous milk drop splash, a high power bullet hitting an apple (instant apple source), a golfer driving a golf ball through a telephone book, or the perfect golf swing using multiflash photography.

In the "Life Biography" room you can look at movies of Edgerton's work such as underwater time lapse photography, sonar, classes at MIT, etc. You can look through his lab notebooks to see how the equipment and techniques were developed.

This is a superb CD for anyone who wants to see the beautiful and surprising pictures produced by the man who made high speed photography possible.

Two things would greatly improve the next version:

1: Add a detailed index or search engine so specific information could be quickly located. Looking through rooms, books, drawers, etc is great for exploring, but finding a particular item is both annoying and time consuming.

2: Include a complete film clip of the Oscar winning short "Quicker than a Wink". Some segments of this incredible film are scattered throughout the CD.

Scott Tilton 7/21/00 ... Read more

Book Description

Time dependent problems frequently pose challenges in areas of science and engineering dealing with numerical analysis, scientific computation, mathematical models, and most importantly—numerical experiments intended to analyze physical behavior and test design. Time Dependent Problems and Difference Methods addresses these various industrial considerations in a pragmatic and detailed manner, giving special attention to time dependent problems in its coverage of the derivation and analysis of numerical methods for computational approximations to Partial Differential Equations (PDEs).

The book is written in two parts. Part I discusses problems with periodic solutions; Part II proceeds to discuss initial boundary value problems for partial differential equations and numerical methods for them. The problems with periodic solutions have been chosen because they allow the application of Fourier analysis without the complication that arises from the infinite domain for the corresponding Cauchy problem. Furthermore, the analysis of periodic problems provides necessary conditions when constructing methods for initial boundary value problems. Much of the material included in Part II appears for the first time in this book.

The authors draw on their own interests and combined extensive experience in applied mathematics and computer science to bring about this practical and useful guide. They provide complete discussions of the pertinent theorems and back them up with examples and illustrations.

For physical scientists, engineers, or anyone who uses numerical experiments to test designs or to predict and investigate physical phenomena, this invaluable guide is destined to become a constant companion. Time Dependent Problems and Difference Methods is also extremely useful to numerical analysts, mathematical modelers, and graduate students of applied mathematics and scientific computations.

What Every Physical Scientist and Engineer Needs to Know About Time Dependent Problems . . .

Time Dependent Problems and Difference Methods covers the analysis of numerical methods for computing approximate solutions to partial differential equations for time dependent problems. This original book includes for the first time a concrete discussion of initial boundary value problems for partial differential equations. The authors have redone many of these results especially for this volume, including theorems, examples, and over one hundred illustrations.

The book takes some less-than-obvious approaches to developing its material:

• Treats differential equations and numerical methods with a parallel development, thus achieving a more useful analysis of numerical methods
• Covers hyperbolic equations in particularly great detail
• Emphasizes error bounds and estimates, as well as the sufficient results needed to justify the methods used for applications

Time Dependent Problems and Difference Methods is written for physical scientists and engineers who use numerical experiments to test designs or to predict and investigate physical phenomena. It is also extremely useful to numerical analysts, mathematical modelers, and graduate students of applied mathematics and scientific computations. ... Read more

Book Description

The untold story of the religious figures, philosophers, astronomers, geologists, physicists, and mathematicians who, for more than four hundred years, have pursued the answer to a fundamental question at the intersection of science and religion: When did the universe begin?

The moment of the universe's conception is one of science's Holy Grails, investigated by some of the most brilliant and inquisitive minds across the ages. Few were more committed than Bishop James Ussher, who lost his sight during the fifty years it took him to compose his Annals of all known history, now famous only for one date: 4004 b.c. Ussher's date for the creation of the world was spectacularly inaccurate, but that didn't stop it from being so widely accepted that it was printed in early twentieth-century Bibles. As writer and documentary filmmaker Martin Gorst vividly illustrates in this captivating, character-driven narrative, theology let Ussher down just as it had thwarted Theophilus of Antioch and many before him. Geology was next to fail the test of time. In the eighteenth century, naturalist Comte de Buffon, working out the rate at which the earth was supposed to have cooled, came up with an age of 74,832 years, even though he suspected this was far too low. Biology then had a go in the hands of fossil hunter Johann Scheuchzer, who alleged to have found a specimen of a man drowned at the time of Noah's flood. Regrettably it was only the imprint of a large salamander.

And so science inched forward via Darwinism, thermodynamics, radioactivity, and, most recently, the astronomers at the controls of the Hubble space telescope, who put the beginning of time at 13.4 billion years ago (give or take a billion).Taking the reader into the laboratories and salons of scholars and scientists, visionaries and eccentrics, Measuring Eternity is an engagingly written account of an epic, often quixotic quest, of how individuals who dedicated their lives to solving an enduring mystery advanced our knowledge of the universe.
... Read more

Reviews (4)

Stunning!
What a shame this little gem of a book hasn't received the large promotion it does to get it out into the mainstream! Expecting a dry little book about mans obsession with time, I was extremely surprised to find a compelling and overwhelmingly fascinating book which tells a tale of mankind's efforts to find out how old the Earth is. The story is very character driven, dipping into the fascinating (if opressed) lives of men of science and religion, driven over the last 400 years to work out exactly how old is the Earth. Of course, initially, the results are hopelessly tangled in religious boundaries but gradually, the questing minds of scientists eventually begin to push back the religious boundaries.

Gorst has written an absolutely magical book here - worth reading whether even if only looking to kill a few hours - because it is so well written, so easy to read and so interesting! Its been a long time since I read such a great work of non-fiction and would recommend this book to anyone with the slightest hint of curiosity or interest in history!

Measuring Eternity: The Search for the Beginning of Time
Measuring Eternity: The Search for the Beginning of Time written by Martin Gorst is a real jewel as he writes about man's obsession to find out when time or when did the universe began. This is a well written book of character driven narrative, making interesting reading as the cast of characters tell a well-crafted story.

I'm sure that at least once in your life time you wanted to know when the universe started. Well, that very question lies at the crosshairs of religion and science, nd for four hundred years philosophers, astronomers, geologists, physicists and mathematicians all tried to figure out the answer to this most vexing question.

Poor Bishop James Ussher who came up with an answer of 4004 BC at 6:00PM on a Suturday, October 22 noless was really off by billions of years, but he only had the bible for reference... no wonder he made such an inaccurate calculation.. if only he opened he eyes and mind to see the expanse of time in eons. Aristotle had it better pegged when he said, "Time is infinite and the universe eternal," and that was the fourth century B.C. Plato had his magnus annus a span of 36,000 years.

I found this book to be very interesting as the author writes in an easily read style making you well aware of the history involved in this age old question of chasing rainbows and expanded horizons... the moment that time began. And as science slowly put the pieces together via Darwinism, thermodynamics, radioactivily and most recently the astronomers with the Hubble space telescope, we begin to see what deep time means... 13.4 billion years give or take a billion. Thus, making time almost incomprehensible nevertheless, plausible.

You'll enjoy reading the history involved with calculating when time began and how each thought that they were on the right track, later to be found that they too were not thinking billions of years. There are some very eccentic characters in this book... knowing that they were serious when they took on the caluclation of time, but later we see the error in their thinking.

Excellent, excellent, excellent
The beauty of this book is that you don't have to know anything about science to be mesmerized by it. Its reads as though a grand wizard of storytelling is telling you an especially wonderful story. Briefly, this book tells the story of how we as human beings came to question the world around us, and eventually the universe. The style of writing is plain, simple english, like a good documentary. Gorst explains the science in examples that don't interfere with the narrative. The search for the beginning of time involved countless scientists, and Gorst seamlessly blends each person's contribution, smoothly moving from one person or era to another. The book is lively and engaging and would make a great present for just about anyone; it's a nice change from the usual bestseller that leaves you with nothing when you're done.

From 4,004 To 13.8 Billion
If you have an old family Bible published as recently as the early 20Th Century, or about 1910, you will find a notation that is remarkable. This was the last year that Bibles gave not only the year that the world began, but also the date, the day, and the time down to the minute. Specifically, the world was to have been created on Saturday October 22 at 6:30 in the year 4,004b.c. An Irish Bishop, James Usher had calculated the date in the early 17th century, and his date prevailed despite challenges for almost 300 years. His methodology was superficially simple, however his source material contained a variety of time spans that were in conflict. Various ancient texts provided reference points when a variety of Biblical events took place, and these contradictions all had to be reconciled or eliminated to arrive at Bishop Usher's Date. Stated simply, he began with Genesis and then added together all of the lives that were listed, and the times they spanned to arrive at his date.

At first glance his thinking appears terribly flawed, however the reality of dating the creation of our universe from the, "Big Bang", was only agreed upon after the Hubble Telescope was in orbit for several years, and even the present date comes with a margin of error of plus or minus 10 percent. In practice this amounts to just under 1.4 billion years. It also took until the end of the 20th Century to prove the Universe is expanding, and to agree on the rate of expansion, sort of. For even those who adhere to the present numbers know that few theories never change, and the rate at which the Universe is expanding is still being refined.

The centuries that encompassed the search for the origin in time of the space that our planet calls home, was pursued without pause and by familiar and brilliant minds. Throughout the process the Church was always watching carefully for no one knew whether Faith and Science would somehow be reconciled, or whether Science would somehow shatter beliefs held for millennia. Failing to place scientific thought, if not in step with The Church, then at least not in obvious opposition was both critical and potentially fatal to those who espoused such perceived heresy. When the theory of all matter originating from a void at a single moment in time was put forth, The Vatican was so relieved that Pope Pius The XII literally spoke and wrote embracing the theory. Scientists rushed to suggest that their theory was just that and the Pontiff would do well to not continue to celebrate what was not fact. He did not speak publicly on the subject again.

"Time", is a man-made construct that is relevant only to us. Even to our species, Albert Einstein demonstrated that time was relative, depending on a person's point of view, their position relative to a specific event. "Measuring Eternity" by Mr. Martin Gorst documents the history and the men and woman who sought to measure an area that was both real and had an age, and to use our definition of time to arrive at an answer. The story is incredible, and the book relates the history in both an exciting manner, and one that the non-scientist can enjoy.

Mr. Gorst relates the tale of the Irish Bishop already mentioned, up to those who work with The Hubble Telescope today. Many of the earlier methods will seem primitive until they are placed in context. Measuring the saline content of oceans, the changes in elevation after an earthquake, the depth of lava flows, and when known comets repeatedly visited the Earth are just a few of the methodologies that were used. A famous French Scientist would heat metal and equate the time it took for the specimen to cool, to the touch of a hand, and compare that with when the Earth could have sustained life. His answers were not correct, however his progress toward the correct answer was exponentially closer than previously thought.

And so history progressed, with seashells found thousands of feet above sea level, and fossils found deep within the Earth. How did they get there, how long did it take? When the methods turned to the stars, again the basic question of how to measure was the primary hurdle. The events that lead to finding reliable reference points, and enough of them literally did not come together until The Hubble Telescope was able to supply all the measurements, and the journey is amazing.

All the reader need bring to this book is an inquisitive mind. There are plenty of ideas that can only be understood by a select group, however the author does manage to relate the story for most everyone. The book does require that the reader try and imagine "everything from a void", to get comfortable with the idea that what is observed not only happened long ago, but that if you were able to instantly travel to the event, it would have ended and vanished billions of years ago.

And the amazing convergence of science and ancient faith is remarkable. Scientists routinely speak of the two systems working together, being dependent upon one another, almost symbiotic. For some it may read as metaphor, for others it will read literally. Whichever the case, the trip through time about measuring just how long time has been ticking, is extraordinary. ... Read more

Book Description

Time travel has been a common feature in popular science fiction, but with today's understanding of black holes, it could possibly be a reality. Many astrophysicists believe black holes can function as tunnels leading to other times and other places and that they contain the key to the Big Bang. In this enthralling book John Gribbin lucidly explains such theories and guides us through a still emerging cosmos of neutron and X ray stars, white dwarfs, quasars, and pulsars.

"Fascinating."--Hans Christian von Beyer, The New York Times Book Review ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Thinking Person's Book
This book really got my mind thinking of the possibilities of the future. It showed the evolution of thinking. Things that are possible now that only visionaries saw in the past.

the break down of Black Holes, White Holes, Wormholes, Space Time, Hyperspace and the ideas of warping time and space are truly interesting. The book illustrations helped to understand some of the text. This book also showed how Einstein was a generation ahead of his time. People are still proving and using his theories.

An excellent book, highly recommended for anyone interested in the universe or the posibility of time travel. The mathematical theories that prove the possibility of a time machine are interesting also. Give this a read, and decide for yourself. Is it possible? Will it be possible? Has it already been done? Fact based information is presented with no tilt toward the science fiction. A good read, even if I had to read some of it a second time to make sure I followed, Gribbin brought these theories to a level a person of average intelligence can understand as I am far from a genious.

Excellent, readable book
I don't know how many books have been written on the subject of black holes, but this is a great one to start with. Gribbin is a great writer--he has an excellent command of writing science in a clear way that makes you want to keep reading to see what he'll say next. I found the abstract descriptions of spacetime in the later chapters a little hard to read, but otherwise I highly recommend the book.

***

Another good book on black holes is Kip S. Thorne, "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy," but that one is much denser (no pun intended) and somewhat more technical.

More a history lesson than anything...
But there's nothing wrong with history, is there? Most of the book covers the mathematical and physical explorations of thinkers from the Greek age through the 20th century, but only conceptually--not mathematically. For those who want an introduction to the myriad theories of how the universe was created, how it might be destroyed, and why there may be an infinite quantity of universes in existence, this is a good book to pick up. But for those of a more math-oriented disposition looking for something with immense detail and depth, you may want to look elsehwere. This one covers the basics, and covers them well.

One of Gribbin's best
As usual, John Gribbin tackles a complex subject in an easy-to-read style. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about this subject. =)

Suffer the frustration of Leonardo.
In reading this amazing journey through space and time, being shown the possibilities of science and physics, one is reminded of how Leonardo da Vinci must have felt 500 years ago while developing his various phylosophies. Knowing it would be possible to fly heavier-than-air machines and so on... but not being able to actually develop such machines himself. John Gribbin delivers proof which was developed by some of the finest brains in science and physics, that travelling at the speed of light and beyond is possible, and not prevented by the laws of physics. The only problem is that at the dawn of the 21st century we are not able to manufacture such machines, we can only fantasize about such an event and dare to guess when we will be able to build such machines. ... Read more

Book Description

What is time? Well-known philosopher and intellectual historian, Eva Brann mounts an inquiry into a subject universally agreed to be among the most familiar and the most strange of human experiences. Brann approaches questions of time through the study of ten famous texts by such thinkers as Plato, Augustine, Kant, Husserl, and Heidegger, showing how they bring to light the perennial issues regarding time. She also offers her independent reflections. Examining the three phases of time, past, present, and future, she argues that neither external time nor the time of the human past is real: the one is a comparison of motions and the other a projection of memory. She concludes that true time is internal and has its origin in the imaginative structure of memory and expectation. Throughout her rich and original study, Brann never fudges the central fact that time is a mystery. ... Read more

Book Description

It is difficult today to imagine life before standard time was established in 1884. In the middle of the nineteenth century, for example, there were 144 official time zones in North America alone. The confusion that ensued, especially among the burgeoning railroad companies, was an hourly comedy of errors that ultimately threatened to impede progress. The creation of standard time, with its two dozen global time zones, is one of the great inventions of the Victorian Era, yet it has been largely taken for granted.

In Time Lord, Clark Blaise re-creates the life of Sanford Fleming, who struggled to convince the world to accept standard time. It’s a fascinating story of science, politics, nationalism, and the determined vision of one man who changed the world. Set in a time marked by substantial technological and cultural transformation, Time Lord is also an erudite exploration of art, literature, consciousness, and our changing relationship to time
... Read more

Reviews (27)

A good article, not a book
I too came into Blaise's Tim Lord with the outstanding book Longitude on my mind. While Blaise made some very good points to set the situation up, his failure to realy follow through is disappointing. The author has taken what was at heart a very good article and stretched it out into a thin book. Unfortunately, something had to suffer. It is obvious that the author is impressed by Sanford Fleming, but his fondness is for the whole man's accomplishments, not just Standard Time. So as a result we are treated to a lot of forshadowing of Fleming's role with the trans-pacific cable, but of course since it does not relate to the Standard Time issue, it is left hanging. Some of his observations about time were very interesting, and helped set the whole story in context very well. But then he would go off ruminating about the aesthetics of time, or try to set the whole time issue in the context of Victorian changes and Sherlock Holmes, which was just fluff. It didn't say much. It read like a school child trying to puff up his report so it matches the teacher's minimum requirements. Maybe I'm being harsh because I misread Blaise's thesis, but it seemed that he spent more time on time than on society and the effects of time standardization. The conference itself, setting time zones and the prime meridian is almost anticlimactic in it's place. I came away learning about why we have 24 time zones, why the Prime Meridian is in Greenwich, and that the railroads set their own time for a good part of the 1800's. Other than that, I took very little form this book, and very little about who Sanford Fleming was, outside of someone who missed a train and did something about it. This book could have been so much more.

A slice of the history of World Time
Time Lord is a biography of Sir Sandford Fleming, and the story of his role in the establishment of world standard time in the latter part of the 19th century. Before the advent of world standard time, there was only "local time" - the clocks in the town squares of villages and cities everywhere were calibrated to indicate noon when the sun cast the shortest shadow locally. But rail travelers were confounded with endless time adjustment and conversion charts as they deciphered the railway's timetable. Information, such as weather data, gathered across the country via electric telegraph, required tedious timing adjustments in order to reconcile related events to a common timeline. American railroad leaders responded by establishing a system of US time zones which approximate those used to this day. But Fleming saw the time problem as not just America-wide, but global. His argument for a globe-encircling time system, comprised of a "prime" meridian and twenty-four time zones, was visionary; it not only anticipated the continent-linking undersea telegraph cable, which he saw in his lifetime, but it was in place to support the successor technology introduced by Marconi and all of its familiar descendents, including cell phones, global positioning, supersonic travel, and the internet.
The story moves with fits and starts, with major forays (linkages actually) into numerous other topics including philosophy, art, music and literature. Possibly this author, the former head of an International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, was moved to use this as an opportunity to enlighten and diversify our own thought processes and knowledge. I can only say that if the reader is simply researching the technical history of standard time, then there's a lot of ancillary material to stumble through in this book. But if the reader is more interested in studying the concept of time in general, (of which the idea of standard time represents just one facet) then this author accomplishes that goal in this book and as well provides numerous springboards for the continuation of that study.

Disappointing
I was very disappointed in Blaise's book about Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard time. The book goes into some background about Fleming, which I found very interesting. The point incident that leads Fleming into developing and advocating a Standard Time is also very good. Unfortunately, Blaise loses me by changing the topic to the impact that the railroads had on the Victorian lifestyle, and his pages regarding Sherlock Holmes. I was hoping for more insight into the Prime Meridian conferences, but it didin't happen. I thought Hochschild's 'King Leopold's Ghost' a much better historical book.

A Disappointment
The title of this book drew my interest. Unfortunately, the book never delivered on what I thought was a very interesting subject.

During an age when the different parts of the world followed their own clocks, it made me realized how confusing and disconnected the world was. I was fascinated to learn how the railroads became the time keepers, but disappointed as the Author seemed to spend more time discussing the impact of the railroad rather than delivering more on Fleming and/or standard time.

I had hoped to get a good understanding of Sandford Fleming, his contempararies, and the Prime Meridian Conference. There were parts of this book that where an effort to get through. All in all, I found this book not delivering on the subject. Books that I thought did a better job on regarding historical events were:

Longitude - Dava Sobel
King Leopold's Ghost - A. Hochschild

Another author needs to do this subject justice
Poor Fleming and his contemporaries at the Prime Meridian Conference - they deserve a much better account of their accomplishments than this mess.

There's some great history hidden in this book, including a wonderful drawing of what life was like for a railroad traveler before standard time was established. However, it is totally buried in the author's personal ruminations about time and the railroad's part in cultural history. I suppose this could have been interesting if the author had an engaging and knowledgeable voice - but to be honest, I felt like I was stuck listening to a boring relative go on about his personal theories at a holiday dinner. It also was a bad sign for me when the only time I found these analysis sections interesting was when he was reporting other historian's theories - as soon as he put his take on things, I found the arguments far more wandering, strained and pointless. I am also not heartened to learn, glancing through other reviews, that some of his facts are apparently erroneous.

What a disappointment. I hope someone else takes up this fascinating subject, dusts off the useless analysis, and lets the world discover one of the greatest and most long-lasting inventions of the 19th century with an engaging read. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Time: The Familiar Stranger
This book journeys into a realm that few of us spend much effort thinking about. The paradox being that we all are a part of this mass movement. This is an excellent book. Anyone who thinks much about existance of humanity or reasons of being should read this book. I feel it reveals much about how we choose to live our lives and why we take on the pursuits we do. ... Read more

Book Description

The history of the clock opens a window on how different cultureshave viewed time and on Europe's path to industrialization.

How did a time-keeping device affect the growth of crafts guilds and the scientific research that led to the Industrial Revolution? Clocks and Culture is a brief history of the changes wrought by and on Europe over four hundred years due to technological advances in timekeeping and the rise of a time-aware culture. In his introduction, Anthony Grafton, Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, puts this classic book in perspective. 14 b/w illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

How man invented time...
This is a great book on the evolution of time measuring machines. But its real value is in the large amount of bibliographic references. ... Read more