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

Nahin, Paul J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387985719 ISBN 13: 9780387985718

Publisher: Springer, 1998

Synopsis

This book 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:

From the reviews:

"Here's a gem of a book...all peppered with delightful notes from science fiction films, novels, and comics. I can turn a page without finding a jewel." Clifford Stoll, University of California, Berkeley, author of The Cuckoos Egg

"The first edition a ] was the most thorough compendium ever written on time travel in science fictiona ]scientifically accurate and at the same time largely accessible to a broad audience of non-specialistsa ]I have been struck by the richness and complexity of the tapestry of ideas that Nahin presents a ]" Kip Thorne

"The research that has gone into this book is impressive. The author has a made a good selection of ideas from the scientific literature on spacetime, causality violation and time-travel paradoxes, and they are presented at a popular level with science-fiction plots running in parallel." Nature

FROM THE REVIEWS:

SFRA REVIEW
"Dr. Nahin has done a fine job with this book. [This book] is an excellent synthesis of the current state of the philosophical and physical discussion on time travel. His use of science fiction to illustrate the possibilities of this research make his work very readable for the layperson as well as the scientist. His explanation why H.G. Wellsa (TM)s time machine wouldna (TM)t work (it does not move in space) is particularly engaginga ][it] is an excellent addition to the discussion of time travel.a

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0387985719
• ISBN 13: 9780387985718
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 662