The Voices of Time: A Cooperative Survey of Man's Views of Time As Expressed by the Sciences and by the Humanities

by J.T. Fraser (Introduction)

Fair condition

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, Philosophy

710 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 1966

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the end, an eminently frustrating read for several different reasons. First off, "Voices" starts out with the pretension that it will discuss, through a myriad, varying essays by scholars in various fields, time, how we think of time and time's meaning, culturally and scientifically. A noble enterprise. Except, second, many of the articles expect such a level of assumed knowledge or acquaintance with, say, theories of childhood psychology or mathematical expressions of physics, that to the lay reader they are impenetrable and meaningless. Third, the age of the book (1964) renders much of the parts on quantum physics and the nature of space-time largely moot since much research has superseded some of the old ideas at work here.
Don't get me wrong: there are several essays worth the slog: the one on timekeepers is good, for instance, and the essays on a few select religions' views of time and history, but that's about it. Potential ace sections on time in music, or time in culture get bogged down in name-dropping or such pre-postmodern jargon, that they become insipid. In fact, the book serves best as an early signpost on the road to the kind of academic wanking that ruined the 80s and 90s for some.