Light Years and Time Travel: An Exploration of Mankind's Enduring Fascination with Light - Hardcover

Clegg, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471211826 ISBN 13: 9780471211822

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2002

Synopsis

PRAISE FOR LIGHT YEARS AND TIME TRAVEL

"This immensely likeable work of pop science traces 'man's enduring fascination with light,' from Aristotle's plans for a death ray (burning enemy ships with a giant array of mirrors) to a recent experiment that seems to have sent Mozart's 40th Symphony faster than light, and thus back through time. Clegg is very good at explaining the bizarre properties of light."
-The Guardian

"A fascinating book on a fascinating subject. It brings together all aspects of light in an unusual and compelling manner."
-Sir Patrick Moore

"Light's properties often seem mysterious to the point of being unfathomable. Yet in this extraordinary book, Brian Clegg manages to explain them through the lives of those so fixated with light that they have shaped our perception of it. . . . Clegg's accessible writing style manages to encapsulate the lives of light's disciples with humorous and interesting anecdotes . . . quite awesome!"
-New Scientist

About this title

About the Author

BRIAN CLEGG holds a degree in physics from Cambridge University and a master's degree in operational research. A consultant and well-known columnist in the business and technology field, he is the author of a dozen books, including Creativity, Imagination Engineering, and Instant Brainpower.

""This immensely likeable work of pop science traces 'man's enduring fascination with light, ' from Aristotle's plans for a death ray (burning enemy ships with a giant array of mirrors) to a recent experiment that seems to have sent Mozart's 40th Symphony faster than light, and thus back through time. Clegg is very good at explaining the bizarre properties of light.""
-The Guardian

""A fascinating book on a fascinating subject. It brings together all aspects of light in an unusual and compelling manner.""
-Sir Patrick Moore

""Light's properties often seem mysterious to the point of being unfathomable. Yet in this extraordinary book, Brian Clegg manages to explain them through the lives of those so fixated with light that they have shaped our perception of it. . . . Clegg's accessible writing style manages to encapsulate the lives of light's disciples with humorous and interesting anecdotes . . . quite awesome!""
-New Scientist

From the Inside Flap

According to Einstein, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. Of all the mind-bending theories in modern physics, that, at least, seemed a rule the universe-let alone mankind-could never break.

But in 1994 Professor Gunter Nimtz sent a recording of Mozart's 40th Symphony through a physical barrier at four times the speed of light. Once again, light had surprised and confounded those who sought to understand it.

Light Years and Time Travel tells the stories of the cultures and individuals determined to unlock the secrets of this mysterious force.

Neolithic man worshipped light at Stonehenge. The ancient Egyptians believed it was the sight of the great god Ra. The Greeks thought it a fire that pours from the eyes to illuminate all we behold. The revolutionary use of light in art by Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci, Durer, and, more recently, the Impressionists has only furthered our awe of it.

From the first scientific grapplings with light by the ancient Chinese sage Mo Ti and the Greek philosopher Empedocles through the Renaissance and down to our own time, the revelations of the true nature of light are equally astounding. We have moved from Bacon's studies of optics-according to legend, he invented the first pair of glasses-and Newton's dissection of light into the colors of the spectrum to Faraday and Maxwell's revelation of light's basis in electricity and magnetism and quantum theory's study of light's strangest, most unexpected properties. Light is also the force behind our most state-of-the-art technology, such as lasers and optical computers.

Now, in this new millennium, we are realizing the possibility that light may allow us to send messages backward in time.

Even this is just the beginning of our understanding of light's true power, but Brian Clegg's odyssey through the wonder and study of light is no less compelling for it.

Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0471211826
• ISBN 13: 9780471211822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320