Time Travel: A History
Ratings10
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings10
Average rating3.7
Best Books of 2016 BOSTON GLOBE * THE ATLANTIC From the acclaimed bestselling author of The Information and Chaos comes this enthralling history of time travel—a concept that has preoccupied physicists and storytellers over the course of the last century. James Gleick delivers a mind-bending exploration of time travel—from its origins in literature and science to its influence on our understanding of time itself. Gleick vividly explores physics, technology, philosophy, and art as each relates to time travel and tells the story of the concept's cultural evolutions—from H.G. Wells to Doctor Who, from Proust to Woody Allen. He takes a close look at the porous boundary between science fiction and modern physics, and, finally, delves into what it all means in our own moment in time—the world of the instantaneous, with its all-consuming present and vanishing future.
Reviews with the most likes.
Minus one star for not discussing the best two time travel movies ever: (1) Primer and (2) Hot Tub Time Machine.
James Gleick explores time travel as a cultural idea through literature and film, from The Time Machine to Groundhog Day, with a little philosophy and physics thrown in for good measure. Much of the book is focused on how the understanding of time has changed through... time, concentrating particularly on how ideas of chronological and historical time developed in the nineteenth century and paved the way for future philosophers to posit why time exists and how it functions. The chapters about the complicated science behind time travel were easy to understand - always a bonus - and the bits about Kurt Godel were my fave.
“I gave a party for time-travelers, but I didn't send out the invitations until after the party. I sat there a long time, but no one came.” –Stephen Hawking
