On time: the physics that makes the universe tick

While we have come a long way toward deciphering the laws of the universe, many physicists still regard time to be one of the greatest unsolved mysteries. 'On Time' provides answers to the questions about time that philosophers and scientists have been asking for millennia, such as whether it has a beginning and an end, why it only points toward the future and not the past, whether it can be stretched and squeezed or even reversed, and whether it is even real. In this mind-altering book, Jim Al-Khalili tackles the enduring problems of time head-on, carefully examining them across the three central pillars of physics - quantum mechanics, general relativity, and thermodynamics. He shows how, in each domain, time can be understood differently: as a coordinate or label, as an inseparable dimension of space-time, or as a direction or 'arrow'.

Genres

Science

Language

English

Publisher

Princeton University Press

ISBN

9780691267036