Time's Arrows Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical Work on the Direction of Time

by Steven F. Savitt (Editor)

While it may seem indisputable that time flows in a linear fashion (from past to future), there are a number of philosophical and physical objections to this notion. In the quest to make sense of this conundrum, philosophers and physicists confront fascinating and irresistible questions such as whether effects can precede causes, and whether one can travel in time. In this book, eleven eminent scholars who stand at the boundary between physics and philosophy attempt to answer these questions. There are chapters by W. Unruh and H. Price on cosmology; A. Leggett, P. Stamp, and S. McCall on quantum theory; M. Barrett, E. Sober, and L. Sklar on thermodynamics, and P. Horwich and J. Earman on time travel. The book will be enjoyed by anyone of a speculative turn of mind fascinated by the puzzle of time.

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is advertised as a layman's book on time with non-technical explanations. It may not be technical for somebody that is immersed in the subject, but even for a person with a physics degree, it was difficult to get through. If you aren't already an expert in this field, you won't get much out of this book as it is mostly a set of journal articles in book form with a lot of jargon that is poorly or not at all defined.

[Timbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, but prohibitively difficult for me due to the level of mathematics involved.