Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction - Hardcover

Nahin, Paul J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0883189356 ISBN 13: 9780883189351

Publisher: American Institute of Physics, 1993

Synopsis

"Here's a gem of a book...all peppered with delightful notes from science fiction films, novels, and comics. I can't turn a page without finding a jewel." Clifford Stoll, University of California, Berkeley, author of The Cuckoo's Egg "The research that has gone into this book is impressive." Nature "For professional physicists much of the value lies in the extensive technical appendices and footnotes, and the exhaustive list of references. But if, like me, you are a child at heart, the real fun lies in the zany stories and wild speculations." Physics World Time Machines explores the idea of time travel from the first account in English literature to the latest theories of physicists such as Kip Thorne and Igor Novikov. This very readable work covers a variety of topics including the history of time travel in fiction; the fundamental scientific concepts of time, spacetime, and the fourth dimension; the speculations of Einstein, Richard Feynman, Kurt Goedel, and others; time travel paradoxes, and much more.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the foreword to the Second Edition, by Kip S. Thorne- "It is now not only the most complete documentation of time travel in science fiction; it is also the most thorough review of serious scientific literature on the subject - a review that, remarkably is scientifically accurate and at the same time largely accessible to a broad audience of nonspecialists .... In browsing this revised edition, I have been struck by the richness and complexity of the tapestry of ideas that Nahin presents.... Nahin simply reports what he sees in the physics and science fiction literature, commenting lucidly and often pointedly on the interconnections, contradictions, and controversies, but leaving it to his readers to form their own final judgments.... Nahin's book, with its complex tapestry of ideas and possibilities, may well remain the most readable and complete treatise on time travel in science and science fiction."

Review

Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the intriguing theories of scientists and the far-flung imaginations of writers. Readers will explore the ideas of time travel from the first account in English literature (Samuel Madden's 1733 Memoirs of the Twentieth Century) to the latest theories of physicists such as Kip Thorne and Igor Novikov. Time Machines is a completely accessible work for the nonspecialist general reader and covers a variety of topics including the history of time travel in fiction; the fundamental scientific concepts of time, spacetime, and the fourth dimension; the speculations of Einstein, Richard Feynman, Kurt Godel, and others; scientific hypotheses about the direction of time, reversed time, and multi-dimensional time; time travel paradoxes, and much more. -- Midwest Book Review

Edition details

• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0883189356
• ISBN 13: 9780883189351
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 408