Now
Subtitle: the physics of time
By: Richard A. Muller
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 364
ISBN-13: 9780393285239
Subjects: Entropy; Philosophy; Physics; Space and time
Other titles: Physics of time
Description: "You are reading the word 'now' right now. But what does that mean? What makes the ephemeral moment 'now' so special? Its enigmatic character has bedeviled philosophers, priests, and modern-day physicists from Augustine to Einstein and beyond. Einstein showed that the flow of time is affected by both velocity and gravity, yet he despaired at his failure to explain the meaning of 'now.' Equally puzzling: Why does time flow? Some physicists have given up trying to understand, and call the flow of time an illusion, but the eminent experimental physicist Richard A. Muller protests. He says physics should explain reality, not deny it. In Now, Muller does more than poke holes in past ideas; he crafts his own revolutionary theory, one that makes testable predictions. He begins by laying out--with the refreshing clarity that made Physics for Future Presidents so successful--a firm and remarkably clear explanation of the physics building blocks of his theory: relativity, entropy, entanglement, antimatter, and the Big Bang. With the stage then set, he reveals a startling way forward. Muller points out that the standard Big Bang theory explains the ongoing expansion of the universe as the continuous creation of new space. He argues that time is also expanding and that the leading edge of the new time is what we experience as 'now.' This thought-provoking vision has remarkable implications for some of our biggest questions not only in physics but also in philosophy--including the ongoing debate about the reality of free will. Moreover, his theory is testable. Muller's monumental work will spark major debate about the most fundamental assumptions of our universe, and may crack one of the longest-standing enigmas in physics"--Dust jacket.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Part I: Amazing time. The entangled enigma ; Einstein's childhood regression ; The leaping now ; Contradictions and paradoxes ; Lightspeed limit, lightspeed loophole ; Imaginary time ; To infinity and beyond; title: Part II: Broken arrow. An arrow of confusion ; Demystifying entropy ; Mystifying entropy ; Time explained ; Our unlikely universe ; The universe erupts ; The end of time ; Throwing entropy under the bus ; Alternative arrows; title: Par III: Spooky physics. A cat both dead and alive ; Tickling the quantum ghost ; Einstein is spooked ; Backward time travel observed; title: Part IV: Physics and reality. Beyond physics ; Cogito ergo sum ; Free will; title: Part V: Now. The 4D Big Bang ; The meaning of now.