The End Of Time - Softcover

Barbour, Dr Julian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753810204 ISBN 13: 9780753810200

Publisher: W&N, 2000

Synopsis

Time is an illusion. Although the laws of physics create a powerful impression that time is flowing, in fact there are only timeless 'nows'. In THE END OF TIME, the British theoretical physicist Julian Barbour describes the coming revolution in our understanding of the world: a quantum theory of the universe that brings together Einstein's general theory of relativity, which denies the existence of a unique time, and quantum mechanics, which demands one. Barbour believes that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the conflict between these two theories: that there is, quite literally, no time at all.

This is the first full-length account of the crisis in our understanding that has enveloped quantum cosmology. Unifying thinking that has never been brought together before in a book for the general reader, Barbour reveals the true architecture of the universe and demonstrates how physics is coming up sharp against the extraordinary possibility that the sense of time passing emerges from a universe that is timeless. The heart of the book is the author's lucid description of how a world of stillness can appear to be teeming with motion: in this timeless world where all possible instants coexist, complex mathematical rules of quantum mechanics bind together a special selection of these instants in a coherent order that consciousness perceives as the flow of time.

Finally, in a lucid and eloquent epilogue, the author speculates on the philosophical implications of his theory: Does free will exist? Is time travel possible? How did the universe begin? Where is heaven? Does the denial of time make life meaningless? Written with exceptional clarity and elegance, this profound and original work presents a dazzlingly powerful argument that all will be able to follow, but no-one with an interest in the workings of the universe will be able to ignore.

About this title

Review:

The End of Time is a fascinating contribution to physics by a scholar and thinker who is taken seriously by physicists of the calibre of Wheeler and Smolin. But he has pursued a career outside the mainstream, living on a farm and refusing to get involved in traditional teaching and research. He argues that time is a purely local phenomenon, a way of seeing things, rather than something that actually meaningfully exists at the core of the Universe. This consists of a vast agglomeration of Nows, single moments whose relationship with each other is intimate, but not intrinsically one of causation.

"If time is removed from the foundations of physics, we shall not all suddenly feel that the flow of time has ceased. On the contrary, new timeless principles will explain why we do feel that time flows. The pattern of the first great revolution will be repeated. Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler taught us that the Earth moves and rotates while the heavens stand still, but this did not change by one iota our direct perception that the heavens do move and that the Earth does not budge."

The many worlds hypothesis is also true and the worlds that derive from alternate possibility exist alongside each other moment-by-moment. Seeing things in this way solves the more recondite problems of quantum physics--Schrodinger's Cat is both dead, and alive, and never in the box in the first place and at a time before the box was thought of, and long dead all in a set of Nows that sit alongside each other in the Platonic realm which is underlying reality. There are no paradoxes because Sequence is an illusion: this is philosophical physics for those of you who like to have your brains hurt. --Roz Kaveney

From the Publisher:

Jacket copy and endorsements, and media reviews
TIME DOES NOT EXIST. Although the laws of nature create a powerful illusion that time is flowing, in fact there are only timeless 'nows'. In this lucid and original book, the theoretical physicist Julian Barbour describes the coming revolution in our understanding of the cosmos: a quantum theory of the universe that brings together Einstein's general theory of relativity - which denies the existence of a unique time - and quantum mechanics - which demands one. Barbour contends that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the profound conflict between these two foundational pillars of modern physics, and in this book he proposes it: there is, quite literally, no time at all.

'The End of Time' is the first full-length account of this new worldview. Unifying thinking that has never before been brought together in a book for the general reader, 'The End of Time' reveals the true architecture of the universe and demonstrates how physics, after centuries of advancement, is now coming up sharp against the extraordinary possibility that the sense of time passing actually emnerges from a universe that is timeless. The book concludes with the author's brilliant description of how a world of Platonic stillness can appear to be teeming with motion.

This ground-breaking book presents a dazzling and inspiring argument in a way that all will be able to follow, but no-one with an interest in the universe will be able to ignore.

'JULIAN BARBOUR'S theory is the most interesting and provocative new idea about time to be proposed in many years. If true, it will change the way we see reality. Experts in the field of quantum gravity have for years looked up to Julian Barbour for his wisdom and imagination, as he is one of the few people who is truly both a scientist and a philosopher. Written with rare clarity and force, this book makes his thinking accessible to all interested readers', LEE SMOLIN, Professor of Physics at Pennsylvania State University, and author of 'The Life of the Cosmos'

'PLATO AND ARISTOTLE, if they had read this book, would still be discussing it, because it deals with the greatest of all mysteries: how come existence?', JOHN ARCHIBALD WHEELER, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Princeton University, and author of 'Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam'

FROM THE REVIEWS:

'[These are] ideas that are new, mind-blowing and have taken Barbour 30 years to develop... The story is fascinating... I feel mentally enriched by the experience of reading Barbour's book, and I am sure I will read it again, more than once. I urge you to do the same', JOHN GRIBBIN, THE SUNDAY TIMES

'[The author has a] generally appealing style which interlaces the science of space and time with snippets of autobiography, history and geography. Despite Barbour's eloquent advocacy, one begins to suspect that even if time does not ultimately exist, it must be the concept that has provided us with the greatest possible simplification in making sense of the world', JOHN BARROW, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

'[Barbour] is clearly a serious scientist... There are many carefully wrought analogies and nice touches in the explanation, even a multiply-configured cat which is a distant relative of Schrodinger's famous feline... [an] impressive book', JOHN TURNEY, THE GUARDIAN

'Barbour is a brilliant British physicist', (4 star review), MICHAEL HANLON, DAILY EXPRESS

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0753810204
• ISBN 13: 9780753810200
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384