Timewarps

by John Gribbin

An exploration into the best scientific knowledge about the nature of time.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics, Philosophy

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction.

Reviews

[Zoffix Znet]

If you read John Gribbin's more recent works, this book—owing to its age—has a feel of a younger, more naive, and aspiring author. The book definitely touches a wider area than I expected from its title. Instead of brief account of General and Special relativities, with subsequent mathematical peculiarities, Gribbin ventures into the areas of philosophical, psychological and mythical views of time travel (nonetheless, he manages to present the mathematical peculiarities as well). Whilst some of the ideas in the book are somewhat outdated, or even no longer held correct; there's still plenty of juicy information—and as with other Gribbin's books, there are plenty of references to fill your "read next" list.

[Eric Layton]

I've read and enjoyed quite a few of Gribbin's books, but I'd have to say that this particular one did not impress me much. The first part of the book was interesting. However, the author went a bit off the beaten path in the latter parts; discussing hypnotic life regression, reincarnation, Eastern philosophies, I Ching, etc. Just a bit much for my tastes in science reading.

I understand he was speculating with regards to the topic of the book; looking at all the possibilities, including those just a wee bit far afield. However, being somewhat of a skeptic, I was, well... skeptical. I'd studied unusual philosophies and transient event topics for years when I was younger. This is probably what made me such a skeptic in my old age.

I do have an interest in the understanding of Time, though, from the viewpoint of Physics. While some hypotheticals in that area are speculative enough to raise some eyebrows, they're not quite as far out there (in my opinion) as some things Gribbin included in this little volume.

No problem, though. I'll continue to read Gribbin's works. Most are interesting and educational.

[Mark Speed]

I loved this book - it really opened up my mind with regards to time-travel, parallel universes, etc.

John Gribbin is (was?) a great science writer, and his clear narrative and excellent supporting diagrams are excellent at getting across some fairly complex concepts easily.

Just flicking through it 35 years later, I can see that much of what the author has explained remains current thinking. It goes to show just how hard it is to prove in practice much of what is theorised at this level.

[Mike S]

The review by Zoffix Znet dated Nov 10, 2013 sums up my thoughts very well. I'd just add that it's a fast-paced, easy read, no math required, it covers a broad range of ideas using a very comfortable writing style. The author is quite smart but doesn't waste time making sure you know that, I'll definitely read more of Gribbin's work.

[Nefeli]

The two first parts of the book were very interesting and offered insight on various topics about the nature of time, but the third part went too much into metaphysics which I didn't really enjoy. John Gribbin has a way of explaining scientific concepts in very approachable ways though.

[Idris Khan]

Timekeeping is a tradition. The stone henge is a cosmic calculator made by an ancient advanced civilization. iPhone gets outdated in 3 years where this battery-less technology can still work even after (4000+50,000*n) years where n=1,2,3,....

[Jerry]

I have a phrase for works like these. “It’s the seventies, Jake.” Or, as Mark Steyn put it in Passing Parade, “the past is another country, but the seventies are another planet.”

This book is so entirely different from The Birth of Time that I had to verify it was written by the same John Gribbin. The basic question Gribbin asks is “Is time travel possible?” The answer is: yes. ESP and precognitive dreams, established facts, show that it is.

I’m not concerned here with whether ESP, and especially precognitive dreams or visions, occurs—that case I take as proven.

He later writes that even if precognitive dreams don’t match exactly with their “prediction”, this is likely because the dreams came from parallel timelines. While he explicitly recognizes that this doesn’t prove precognitive dreams must be real, it is very close to the parapsychology researchers who say that catching a potential psychic cheating during experiments proves that their psychic ability is real, because they want so much to let the experimenters in on the truth.

And it is light years from the Birth of Time author who wrote,

But it is the job of theorists to come up with models that match the observations, not the job of observers to bend their data to match the models…

Apparently, Gribbin went along with several things in the era that he regretted later. I don’t know specifically if this is one of them, but the complete lack of the supernatural in The Birth of Time implies it is.

I find it difficult to blame Gribbin for taking such things seriously. I did, too, in the seventies. But in my defense, I never took it as given, and I was only 15 with not even a high school education completed. Even my 15-year old self would have been dubious reading this book. Reading it now nearly fifty years later, I can completely agree with Gribbin on one point, but for different reasons:

…there are really only 20 years or so of reliable experiments with dream telepathy to draw on, and it is hardly surprising that it has taken until the 1970s for the evidence to become firmly established.

I agree that it is certainly unsurprising that this book came out in the 1970s.

Sadly, those are the “timewarps” that this book is about. While it begins firmly about the physics, it ends firmly in the paraphysics.

I can’t recommend this book for its own topic, which is nonsense. But as an example of how the seventies seduced even otherwise rational scientists it is fascinating. This is the decade that I remember. A wonderful time to visit, but I definitely wouldn’t want to live there.

[Sam Jokerman]

One of Gribbin’s early books, where it’s not so much about science but speculation about “cool” science-fiction topics of interest in the 70s, like time travel and precognition. He does speculate about possible scientific explanations for these things, but he takes too much for granted about them for my taste. Though no less than I did around his same age. Ok read for a dated book, but Colin Wilson covers these topics, and more, much better in his book, The Occult.

[heyoka0]

The last section on unconsciousness is what separates this work from the usual physical time travel books

[Mark]

Readability: 7. Rating: 6. Borrowed from Vivian. Although largely an account of the possibility of time travel, it did also explore one of my favorite quasi theories - the influence of one's own mind on the Many-Worlds theory.

[Brendan]

Read this when I was about 11, made a big impression on me

[Amanda L]

General relativity theory with a dash of mysticism. Laughable at times.

[Brandon Johnson]

Loved this book...