In Search of Time: Journeys Along a Curious Dimension - Hardcover

Falk, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1906367191 ISBN 13: 9781906367190

Verlag: National Maritime Museum, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

`Time’s definition is elusive but Dan Falk is keen to track it down. In this thoroughly readable, broad-sweeping and thought-provoking book, Falk surveys humanity’s attempts to record and understand time, and poses some fascinating questions.’ – New Scientist `Falk seamlessly combines science with literary and philosophical observations… and digresses to fascinating topics like root notions of past and future, the vagaries of memory and the behavior of birds at breakfast time.’ – Publishers Weekly (starred review) `What is time?’Falk considers cultural attitudes towards time from prehistory to the present, recounts different philosophers’ explanations of the phenomenon of time, outlines the history of time-keeping, and examines centuries of scientific thought on the topic, from Newton through Einstein to the Big Bang and beyond. He speaks with anthropologists and historians about our deep desire to track time’s cycles, asks psychologists and neuroscientists about the mysteries of memory, and quizzes physicists about the beginning and end of time – not to mention the latest theories about time travel and the paradoxes it seems to entail. What can ancient sites such as the`passage tomb’ in Newgrange, Ireland, tell us about our ancestors’ understanding of time? Why is the medieval clock at the Salisbury Cathedral so special? How do human differ from other species in our perception of the past and future? What implications do Einstein’s theories have for the possibility of time travel? Is time an illusion? From ancient observatories to nanoseconds, from the layers of geological`deep time’ to atomic clocks, Falk offers an engaging, thought-provoking account of how humans have come to understand time over the centuries and how that understanding continues to evolve today, not only in the fields of physics, astronomy, philosophy and psychology but also in everyday life.

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Críticas

Dan Falk is a riveting writer: his latest book is almost unputdown-able ... Time is a mysterious commodity: we gain, spend, save and lose it. But everyone should make enough time to read In Search of Time. --Martin J. Rees, Astronomer Royal and author of Just Six Numbers and Our Final Hour

Time has intrigued philosophers and scientists from Aristotle to Newton, from Zeno to Hawking. Falk has fun in his search for time, discussing it with researchers who make some educated guesses ... Falk s tour of time is worth a few hours of our own. --The Times

Falk deals entertainingly with the history of man s attempts to measure time, from the sun rising over Neolithic monuments to today s super-accurate atomic clocks. He discusses cultural differences ... and he describes the difficulties our ancestors faced in making sense of months and years that contain days and fractions of days ... An accessible and entertaining introduction to what is, perhaps, the deepest and most intractable secret of the universe. --Financial Times

Reseña del editor

The enigma of time has captivated journalist Dan Falk, who sets off on a journey In Search of Time. The quest takes him from the ancient observatories of stone-age Ireland to the atomic clocks of the U.S. Naval Observatory; from the layers of geological 'deep time' in an Arizona canyon to Albert Einstein's apartment in Switzerland. He speaks with anthropologists and historians about our deep desire to track time's cycles, asks psychologists and neuroscientists about the mysteries of memory and quizzes physicists about the beginning and end of time not to mention the latest theories about time travel and the paradoxes it seems to entail.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: National Maritime Museum
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1906367191
• ISBN 13: 9781906367190
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 352
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar