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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Quantum physics (quantum mechanics)
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The End Of Time (Paperback, New Ed)
Loot Price: R365
Discovery Miles 3 650
You Save: R37
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The End Of Time (Paperback, New Ed)
 (2 ratings, sign in to rate)
List price R402
Loot Price R365
Discovery Miles 3 650
You Save R37 (9%)
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
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This is a cracker. Julian Barbour subscribes to the version of
quantum theory which holds that everything that could possibly
happen exists 'all the time' in some set of alternative realities
that are stacked together forwards, backwards, up, down and
sideways. We're accustomed to thinking of there being a smooth flow
of time but in the picture the author creates, there is no such
flow but rather an ordering of things analogous to a series of
still images on a strip of movie film which merely gives an
illusion of time passing. No short review can do justice to these
ideas or to the cogent way in which he presents a case that will
intrigue you and make you think deeply about the world, even if you
conclude that he is as mad as a hatter. (Kirkus UK)
Time is an illusion. Although the laws of physics create a powerful
impression that time is flowing, in fact there are only timeless
'nows'. In THE END OF TIME, the British theoretical physicist
Julian Barbour describes the coming revolution in our understanding
of the world: a quantum theory of the universe that brings together
Einstein's general theory of relativity, which denies the existence
of a unique time, and quantum mechanics, which demands one. Barbour
believes that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the
conflict between these two theories: that there is, quite
literally, no time at all. This is the first full-length account of
the crisis in our understanding that has enveloped quantum
cosmology. Unifying thinking that has never been brought together
before in a book for the general reader, Barbour reveals the true
architecture of the universe and demonstrates how physics is coming
up sharp against the extraordinary possibility that the sense of
time passing emerges from a universe that is timeless. The heart of
the book is the author's lucid description of how a world of
stillness can appear to be teeming with motion: in this timeless
world where all possible instants coexist, complex mathematical
rules of quantum mechanics bind together a special selection of
these instants in a coherent order that consciousness perceives as
the flow of time. Finally, in a lucid and eloquent epilogue, the
author speculates on the philosophical implications of his theory:
Does free will exist? Is time travel possible? How did the universe
begin? Where is heaven? Does the denial of time make life
meaningless? Written with exceptional clarity and elegance, this
profound and original work presents a dazzlingly powerful argument
that all will be able to follow, but no-one with an interest in the
workings of the universe will be able to ignore.
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