Time: A Traveler's Guide

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, 1998 - Science - 285 pages
"Bucky Fuller thought big," Wired magazine recently noted, "Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes them both." In his newest book, Cliff Pickover outdoes even himself, probing a mystery that has baffled mystics, philosophers, and scientists throughout history--What is the nature of time?
In Time: A Traveler's Guide, Pickover takes readers to the forefront of science as he illuminates the most mysterious phenomenon in the universe--time itself. Is time travel possible? Is time real? Does it flow in one direction only? Does it have a beginning and an end? What is eternity? Pickover's book offers a stimulating blend of Chopin, philosophy, Einstein, and modern physics, spiced with diverting side-trips to such topics as the history of clocks, the nature of free will, and the reason gold glitters. Numerous diagrams ensure readers will have no trouble following along.
By the time we finish this book, we understand a wide variety of scientific concepts pertaining to time. And most important, we will understand that time travel is, indeed, possible.

From inside the book

Contents

Gravitational Time Dilation
130
Tachyons Cosmic Moment Lines
139
Time Travel by Balloons and Strings
160
Can John F Kennedy Be Saved?
172
Closed Timelike Curves in a Gödelian Universe
182
Wormhole Time Machine
192
Adventures with Time
204
Rotating Cylinders and the Possibility
221
Some Concluding Musings and Thoughts
245
Notes
251
References
261
Smorgasbord for Computer Junkies
275
About the Author
281
Copyright

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About the author (1998)

Clifford A. Pickover is Research Staff Member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. An associate editor of several journals, prolific inventor, and puzzle columnist for magazines such as Discover, Pickover is the author of many bestselling books on popular science topics. He lives in Yorktown Heights, New York.

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