Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;Our universeand#8217;s and#8220;beginningand#8221; is at an end. andlt;/Bandgt;What does this have to do with us, here on Earth? Everything. Our lives are about to be dramatically shakenand#8212;as altered as they were by the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;In andlt;Iandgt;About Time, andlt;/Iandgt;astrophysicist Adam Frank allows us a peek into the cutting edge of cosmology, explaining how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universeand#8217;s origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness fifty thousand years ago, our lived experience of time, from hunting and gathering to the invention of cell phones and electronic calendars, has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmologyand#8212;time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflationand#8212;are about to send us in a new direction. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Time is both our grandest and most intimate conception of the universe. Frank tells the story of humanityand#8217;s deepest questionand#8212;when and how did everything begin?and#8212;alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time, looking at the way our engagement with the world has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries inform our daily experience. This astounding book will change the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.
Review
"'Time' is the most used noun in the English language, yet we still don't really understand it. Adam Frank tells the fascinating story of how humans have struggled to make sense of time, especially in the context of the universe around us. From prehistory to the Enlightenment, through Einstein and on to the multiverse, this is a rich and inspiring tour through some of the biggest ideas that have ever been thought." Sean Carroll, author of From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
Review
“An eloquent book.” < -="" i="" -=""> - Nature - < -="" -="">
Review
"A phenomenal blend of science and cultural history.
Hubble Fellow Adam Frank (Astrophysics/Univ. of Rochester) delves into the complex relationship between time and culture and concludes that culture and cosmology—even the Big Bang—are linked inextricably together.
Time, writes the author, can be thought of as both “cosmic time” and "human time.” Material engagement with the physical world necessarily is affected by cultural invention; from ancient civilization to Microsoft Outlook, time is "entangled" with mankind. In addition, even as entanglement shifted from the day/night dichotomy of hunter-gatherers to the sophisticated atomic clocks we use today, our interaction with time relied on the cosmos—movements of the earth, sun and other stars remain the basic elements on which our notion of time is built. As human consciousness grew more sophisticated, so did our manipulation of time. Clocks, telescopes, radio, GPS and e-mail are all examples of how cultural invention and cosmic time are interwoven and mutually articulated. Maintaining a conversational and enthusiastic tone and accessible vocabulary, the author surveys the implications of this "braiding" of time and culture in terms of quantum physics, and introduces several alternatives to the Big Bang ex nihilo. String theory, multiverse models, brane cosmology and other fields may yield answers about the creation of the universe, and are also implicitly theories of (space)-time. Depleting reserves of oil and energy, too, indicates the need for a renewed approach toward resources and time. Ultimately, Frank argues that recognizing our place in the ongoing narrative of the creation of cultural time and cosmic time—moving beyond the cosmology of the Big Bang (of which "ours" may be one of many)—is what will allow mankind to enter a new, global era of time and culture.”
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Review
Frank (astrophysics, Univ. of Rochester; The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate), cofounder of NPR’s 13.7: Cosmos & Culture blog and frequent contributor to Discover and Astronomy magazines, here endeavors to reconstruct our understanding of time—both what he calls human time and cosmological time—with the contention that we are poised for a new definition or experience of time. He begins by ushering readers from the prehistoric to the modern era, showing how the cycles of nature and the sky became integrated into human culture over time. Next, he discusses cosmological time and lays out his proposal for a new “order” of time. The narrative is punctuated with vignettes, some of them amusing, designed to highlight and enrich various points of the narrative. VERDICT This will fascinate anyone curious about the nexus of astronomy and history and, of course, time. Recommended--Library Journal
Review
“A fascinating and comprehensive survey of how technology - from farming to railways to telegraphy to the internet - has changed our everyday concept of time. [Frank] is excellent at showing how our ideas of human and cosmic time have evolved hand-in-hand… Frank's thesis that our notions of cosmic and human time are braided together is compelling.” < -="" i="" -=""> - New Scientist - < -="" -="">
Synopsis
Now in paperback, “a phenomenal blend of science and cultural history” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), About Time gives readers a peek into the cutting edge of cosmology, showing how it is intimately wedded to the texture of our daily lives.In About Time, Adam Frank explains how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universe’s origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness 50,000 years ago, our lived experience of time—from hunting and gathering to the development of agriculture to the industrial revolution to the invention of Outlook calendars—has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmology—time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflation—are about to send us in a new direction.
Frank tells the story of humanity’s deepest question—when and how did everything begin?—alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time. He looks at the way our engagement with the world—our inventions, our habits, and more—has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries, in turn, inform our daily experience.
This astounding book changes the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.
Synopsis
Our universe’s “beginning” is at an end. What does this have to do with us, here on Earth? Everything. Our lives are about to be dramatically shaken—as altered as they were by the invention of the clock, the steam engine, the railroad, the radio and the Internet.
In About Time, astrophysicist Adam Frank allows us a peek into the cutting edge of cosmology, explaining how the texture of our lives changes along with our understanding of the universe’s origin. Since we awoke to self-consciousness fifty thousand years ago, our lived experience of time, from hunting and gathering to the invention of cell phones and electronic calendars, has been transformed and rebuilt many times. But the latest theories in cosmology—time with no beginning, parallel universes, eternal inflation—are about to send us in a new direction.
Time is both our grandest and most intimate conception of the universe. Frank tells the story of humanity’s deepest question—when and how did everything begin?—alongside the story of how human beings have experienced time, looking at the way our engagement with the world has allowed us to discover the nature of the universe and how those discoveries inform our daily experience. This astounding book will change the way we think about time and how it affects our lives.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;Adam Frankandlt;/Bandgt; is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Rochester and a regular contributor to andlt;iandgt;Discoverandlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;Astronomyandlt;/iandgt; magazines. He has also written for andlt;iandgt;Scientific Americanandlt;/iandgt; and many other publications and is the co-founder of NPR's andlt;iandgt;13:7 Cosmos andamp; Cultureandlt;/iandgt; blog. He was a Hubble Fellow and is the recipient of an American Astronomical Society Prize for his scientific writing.