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Dan Falk

In Search of Time

You probably have to juggle you time to fit in everything you want to do, but have you ever wanted a look at time from a wider perspective - how it how it has been measured and how it has been viewed in different cultures and at different points in history. If so then you might like to read In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension by Dan Falk

Falk looks at how ancient cultures built strudtures such as Stonehenge to keep track of the calendar, and at how clocks have developed, from sundials to the latest atomic clocks. He discusses how some cultures are 'slaves of the clock', whilst others have a more easygoing attitude, and there is a chapter on memory - how we recollect what happened to us years ago. The book goes on to look at the science of time - Newton, Einstein, and how the ages of the Earth and of the Universe have been measured. There is a discussion of the far future, and the book ends with a look at philosophical ideas about time.

Falk covers a lot of material in the book, but it never seems rushed. However, I didn't find it a particularly memorable book. Maybe its because I've read quite a few similar books, and this one doesn't go very deeply into any topic - its more useful as a general overview of the area. It would also provide a pleasant way of whiling away a few hours.

Amazon.com info

Hardcover 352 pages
ISBN: 031237478X
Salesrank: 72853
Weight:1.2 lbs

Published: 2008 Thomas Dunne Books

Amazon price $17.13

Marketplace:New from $15.45:Used from $7.29

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Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 352 pages
ISBN: 1906367191
Salesrank: 130898
Weight:1.5 lbs

Published: 2009 National Maritime Museum

Marketplace::Used from £9.99

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 344 pages
ISBN: 0771047592
Salesrank: 19243
Weight:0.65 lbs

Published: 2009 Emblem Editions

Amazon price CDN$ 15.16

Marketplace:New from CDN$ 15.16:Used from CDN$ 9.00

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Product Description
Time surrounds us. It defines our experience of the world; it echoes through our every waking hour. Time is the very foundation of conscious experience. Yet as familiar as it is, time is also deeply mysterious. We cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it. Yet we do feel it—or at least we think we feel it. No wonder poets, writers, philosophers, and scientists have grappled with time for centuries. In his latest book, award-winning science writer Dan Falk chronicles the story of how humans have come to understand time over the millennia, and by drawing from the latest research in physics, psychology, and other fields, Falk shows how that understanding continues to evolve. In Search of Time begins with our earliest ancestors’ perception of time and the discoveries that led—with much effort—to the Gregorian calendar, atomic clocks, and “leap seconds.” Falk examines the workings of memory, the brain’s remarkable “bridge across time,” and asks whether humans are unique in their ability to recall the past and imagine the future. He explores the possibility of time travel, and the paradoxes it seems to entail. Falk looks at the quest to comprehend the beginning of time and how time—and the universe—may end. Finally, he examines the puzzle of time’s “flow,” and the remarkable possibility that the passage of time may be an illusion. Entertaining, illuminating, and ultimately thought provoking, In Search of Time reveals what some of our most insightful thinkers have had to say about time, from Aristotle to Kant, from Newton to Einstein, and continuing with the brightest minds of today. (20081013)

Product Description

Time surrounds us. It defines our experience of the world; it echoes through our every waking hour. Time is the very foundation of conscious experience. Yet as familiar as it is, time is also deeply mysterious. We cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it. Yet we do feel it—or at least we think we feel it. No wonder poets, writers, philosophers, and scientists have grappled with time for centuries.

In his latest book, award-winning science writer Dan Falk chronicles the story of how humans have come to understand time over the millennia, and by drawing from the latest research in physics, psychology, and other fields, Falk shows how that understanding continues to evolve. In Search of Time begins with our earliest ancestors’ perception of time and the discoveries that led—with much effort—to the Gregorian calendar, atomic clocks, and “leap seconds.” Falk examines the workings of memory, the brain’s remarkable “bridge across time,” and asks whether humans are unique in their ability to recall the past and imagine the future. He explores the possibility of time travel, and the paradoxes it seems to entail. Falk looks at the quest to comprehend the beginning of time and how time—and the universe—may end. Finally, he examines the puzzle of time’s “flow,” and the remarkable possibility that the passage of time may be an illusion.

Entertaining, illuminating, and ultimately thought provoking, In Search of Time reveals what some of our most insightful thinkers have had to say about time, from Aristotle to Kant, from Newton to Einstein, and continuing with the brightest minds of today.

(20081013)

Educational and Fun ****
Dan Falk, popular science writer, has tackled one of the most mysterious entities we know, time. Starting with the most rudimentary means humans developed to measure days, months, and years, he progresses to amazing modern clocks. His description of the world's oldest running clocks (in the cathedrals of Salisbury and Wells in England) motivated me to go and see them on a recent trip to the UK. After describing how we measure time, Falk devotes most of his book to the concept of time itself. Many cultures view time differently from us in the West; we see it linearly and link it to past (memory) and the future (imagination). Isaac Newton saw time as a dependable ticking clock, resonating at a regular rate throughout the universe eternally, or as a river continuously flowing by at the same rate. Leibniz, on the other hand, viewed time as variable, related to the observer's experience. Falk traces the subsequent debates on the nature of time, and its relation to the second law of thermodynamics, which seems to indicate an "arrow of time." Next he explains Einstein's contribution, showing time to be a dimension related to space, matter, and energy, and to be variable. He does a good job explaining special and general relativity to laymen (at least, as much as can be done). He then compares Einstein's idea to the newer discovery of quantum theory, which throws a wrench into relativity, at least on the micro scale. Of course, any book on time must discuss the possibility of time travel. Falk's survey of the literature and ideas and fallacies of this popular thought is interesting and well presented. He even includes a great Calvin and Hobbs cartoon that states the matter perfectly! While noting that modern physics denies its possibility, he notes that there still is some uncertainty, leaving a tantalizing door open. Falk then discusses the beginning of time at the Big Bang, and what might have happened "before" that. He does a good job surveying the way that scientists came to understand that time itself had a beginning. His philosophical meanderings at this point somewhat disappointed me, as he considered all options except that there actually is a Creator who began the universe, including space, matter, energy, and time. The next chapter, on the end of the universe, graphically presents the bleak future of the universe--petering out "not with a bang, but with a whimper." This accurate picture produces a sort of despair among those who believe the universe is all there is or that we can experience, that there is no ultimate or lasting purpose to our existence. Once again, here the idea that God gives life and significance is not considered as a possibility. Falk's book is fun to read and very educational. While I believe its naturalistic presuppositions limit its scope and conclusions, it still explains well the history and current state of our understanding of time.

Educational and Fun ****

Dan Falk, popular science writer, has tackled one of the most mysterious entities we know, time. Starting with the most rudimentary means humans developed to measure days, months, and years, he progresses to amazing modern clocks. His description of the world's oldest running clocks (in the cathedrals of Salisbury and Wells in England) motivated me to go and see them on a recent trip to the UK.

After describing how we measure time, Falk devotes most of his book to the concept of time itself. Many cultures view time differently from us in the West; we see it linearly and link it to past (memory) and the future (imagination). Isaac Newton saw time as a dependable ticking clock, resonating at a regular rate throughout the universe eternally, or as a river continuously flowing by at the same rate. Leibniz, on the other hand, viewed time as variable, related to the observer's experience. Falk traces the subsequent debates on the nature of time, and its relation to the second law of thermodynamics, which seems to indicate an "arrow of time."

Next he explains Einstein's contribution, showing time to be a dimension related to space, matter, and energy, and to be variable. He does a good job explaining special and general relativity to laymen (at least, as much as can be done). He then compares Einstein's idea to the newer discovery of quantum theory, which throws a wrench into relativity, at least on the micro scale.

Of course, any book on time must discuss the possibility of time travel. Falk's survey of the literature and ideas and fallacies of this popular thought is interesting and well presented. He even includes a great Calvin and Hobbs cartoon that states the matter perfectly! While noting that modern physics denies its possibility, he notes that there still is some uncertainty, leaving a tantalizing door open.

Falk then discusses the beginning of time at the Big Bang, and what might have happened "before" that. He does a good job surveying the way that scientists came to understand that time itself had a beginning. His philosophical meanderings at this point somewhat disappointed me, as he considered all options except that there actually is a Creator who began the universe, including space, matter, energy, and time.

The next chapter, on the end of the universe, graphically presents the bleak future of the universe--petering out "not with a bang, but with a whimper." This accurate picture produces a sort of despair among those who believe the universe is all there is or that we can experience, that there is no ultimate or lasting purpose to our existence. Once again, here the idea that God gives life and significance is not considered as a possibility.

Falk's book is fun to read and very educational. While I believe its naturalistic presuppositions limit its scope and conclusions, it still explains well the history and current state of our understanding of time.

A History of time *****
This book presents a "history" of time, with a heavy focus on physics and how physicists throughout history have approached and tried to conceptualize and explain time. The author does an excellent job of presenting a wide variety of both contemporary and historical perceptions of time. I enjoyed reading this book because it provided some food for thought on how I understand and conceptualize time. I recommend it to anyone who finds the concept of time fascinating and wants to learn what others have to say about it.

A History of time *****

This book presents a "history" of time, with a heavy focus on physics and how physicists throughout history have approached and tried to conceptualize and explain time. The author does an excellent job of presenting a wide variety of both contemporary and historical perceptions of time. I enjoyed reading this book because it provided some food for thought on how I understand and conceptualize time. I recommend it to anyone who finds the concept of time fascinating and wants to learn what others have to say about it.

An accessible entry into the world of Time *****
This is an excellent book for regular people that have some interest in the subject of Time. The author covers several aspects involving Time, from historical evidence of when civilizations first started understanding and taking advantage of time, to the philosophical Time, to the latest scientific concepts and theories around Time. The book is excellently written. The first part of the book takes us through the evolution of time in history and in different cultures/civilizations and is written in such a way that the reader is always excited to find out what the next page will tell us about Time. The second part of the book, more focused in the scientific aspect of Time, explains how Time has been dealt with in the major breakthroughs of science, from Newton to Einsten and Hawking. Having tried to read other science books and gotten lost along the technical concepts, the author did a very good job in shielding the reader from the deepness of such concepts and theories and explained them in a very accessible manner.

An accessible entry into the world of Time *****

This is an excellent book for regular people that have some interest in the subject of Time. The author covers several aspects involving Time, from historical evidence of when civilizations first started understanding and taking advantage of time, to the philosophical Time, to the latest scientific concepts and theories around Time.

The book is excellently written. The first part of the book takes us through the evolution of time in history and in different cultures/civilizations and is written in such a way that the reader is always excited to find out what the next page will tell us about Time. The second part of the book, more focused in the scientific aspect of Time, explains how Time has been dealt with in the major breakthroughs of science, from Newton to Einsten and Hawking. Having tried to read other science books and gotten lost along the technical concepts, the author did a very good job in shielding the reader from the deepness of such concepts and theories and explained them in a very accessible manner.

What is time? ****
What is time? That is the central question of this book. The author goes after this question from several different angles. Historical and modern, scientific and philosophical. Actually the book goes after a number of closely related questions. Not only What is time, but how does it work, why do we preceive it the way we do, does it exist in reality or is it an invention of the human mind, ect. If you are looking for definitive anwsers, as you probably expect, there are none as yet. But this book will give you insights and much food for thought on these subjects. The book is well written, interesting, and easy to understand.

What is time? ****

What is time? That is the central question of this book. The author goes after this question from several different angles.
Historical and modern, scientific and philosophical. Actually the book goes after a number of closely related questions. Not only
What is time, but how does it work, why do we preceive it the way we do, does it exist in reality or is it an invention of the
human mind, ect. If you are looking for definitive anwsers, as you probably expect, there are none as yet. But this book will
give you insights and much food for thought on these subjects.
The book is well written, interesting, and easy to understand.

Not at All What I Was Hoping For **
Way back in 1995 I read a fascinating book by Paul Davies called `About Time'. What makes the topic of time so interesting is that most people believe that they intuitively understand time and yet our perception and reality can be at odds. Unlike most things in nature science cannot stand outside of time and study it. We also have a very limited understanding of time based on that fact that we have no personal experiences with the very fast, the very distant and the very massive. This is why from our perspective Newtonian physics, which fundamentally misinterprets time, works perfectly fine in everyday life. My expectation for the book was to read more about the science of time possibly updated with research done within the past decade and a half. I don't think my expectation was unreasonable given the subtitle of the book, `The SCIENCE of a curious DIMENSION'. Note the prominence of the word `science'. To say I was disappointed would be a great understatement. The first half of the book is about the history of timekeeping going back thousands of years. It's mildly interesting but certainly not why I purchased the book. About halfway through we finally get to Einstein's Theory of Relativity and the book briefly became intriguing although it never expands on ideas I've already read in many other books. In fact the second half of the book was sort of a primer on modern physics in general with the author touching on the big bang, black holes, dark matter, the smoothness of background radiation, grand unified theory, string theory (including m-branes), paradoxes of time travel and so on and so forth. What he doesn't do is ever delve into any one topic long enough to do anything more than scratch the surface. Quite frankly this book could have been written by a layman like me and why would I want to read a book I could have written. You can argue that the aforementioned topics are all related to time but you can also argue that paint drying is related to time but I don't want to read a book about drying paint. In the end this book appears to be little more than a beginner's physics book along with some history of keeping time. For me it ended up being a waste of time (how ironic) and quite frankly was a chore to get through. Paul Davies' book delved far far deeper into the physics of time and was much more fascinating and better written. The author even refers back to Paul Davies book several times and inspired me to reread it. After just a few pages I could immediately recognize it as a far superior book. `In Search of Time' might be interesting to someone who hasn't spent much or any time reading popular science books but if you really want to get into the subject go with Davies.

Not at All What I Was Hoping For **

Way back in 1995 I read a fascinating book by Paul Davies called `About Time'. What makes the topic of time so interesting is that most people believe that they intuitively understand time and yet our perception and reality can be at odds. Unlike most things in nature science cannot stand outside of time and study it. We also have a very limited understanding of time based on that fact that we have no personal experiences with the very fast, the very distant and the very massive. This is why from our perspective Newtonian physics, which fundamentally misinterprets time, works perfectly fine in everyday life. My expectation for the book was to read more about the science of time possibly updated with research done within the past decade and a half. I don't think my expectation was unreasonable given the subtitle of the book, `The SCIENCE of a curious DIMENSION'. Note the prominence of the word `science'. To say I was disappointed would be a great understatement.

The first half of the book is about the history of timekeeping going back thousands of years. It's mildly interesting but certainly not why I purchased the book. About halfway through we finally get to Einstein's Theory of Relativity and the book briefly became intriguing although it never expands on ideas I've already read in many other books. In fact the second half of the book was sort of a primer on modern physics in general with the author touching on the big bang, black holes, dark matter, the smoothness of background radiation, grand unified theory, string theory (including m-branes), paradoxes of time travel and so on and so forth. What he doesn't do is ever delve into any one topic long enough to do anything more than scratch the surface. Quite frankly this book could have been written by a layman like me and why would I want to read a book I could have written. You can argue that the aforementioned topics are all related to time but you can also argue that paint drying is related to time but I don't want to read a book about drying paint.

In the end this book appears to be little more than a beginner's physics book along with some history of keeping time. For me it ended up being a waste of time (how ironic) and quite frankly was a chore to get through. Paul Davies' book delved far far deeper into the physics of time and was much more fascinating and better written. The author even refers back to Paul Davies book several times and inspired me to reread it. After just a few pages I could immediately recognize it as a far superior book. `In Search of Time' might be interesting to someone who hasn't spent much or any time reading popular science books but if you really want to get into the subject go with Davies.

Fascinating subject, disappointing book. **
This could have been a wonderful tale of mankinds' wrestling with both the measurement and understanding of time, but instead is, in turns, quite interesting, a little thought provoking and really really annoying. It is almost impossible, I know, to find an author with an open mind who writes objectively, but Dan Falk fails seriously in this regard. His slavish devotion to orthodox evolutionary theory and repeated preaching of such often gets in the way of what should be the central theme of the book. But even more than this, I had to stop reading when his reasoning became so full of logical flaws that it made me really quite cross!

Fascinating subject, disappointing book. **

This could have been a wonderful tale of mankinds' wrestling with both the measurement and understanding of time, but instead is, in turns, quite interesting, a little thought provoking and really really annoying. It is almost impossible, I know, to find an author with an open mind who writes objectively, but Dan Falk fails seriously in this regard. His slavish devotion to orthodox evolutionary theory and repeated preaching of such often gets in the way of what should be the central theme of the book. But even more than this, I had to stop reading when his reasoning became so full of logical flaws that it made me really quite cross!

In Search of Time: Journeys along a Curious Dimension *****
The book is an excellent introduction to studies of the nature of time. I was so impressed that I ordered what looked like another volume in a series headed 'In Search of Time', this one subtitled 'The History, Physics, and Philosophy of Time', but found that apart from the subtitle the book is the same as the earlier one (subtitled 'Journeys Along a Curious Dimension'). And I suspect that the content of a third book, headed 'In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension' has also the same content. Since the Amazon method of selling books does not allow prospective customers to peruse books, it seems to me that in this particular case Amazon should make it explicitly clear that the above books have identical content. Gunars Berzins

In Search of Time: Journeys along a Curious Dimension *****

The book is an excellent introduction to studies of the nature of time. I was so impressed that I ordered what looked like another volume in a series headed 'In Search of Time', this one subtitled 'The History, Physics, and Philosophy of Time', but found that apart from the subtitle the book is the same as the earlier one (subtitled 'Journeys Along a Curious Dimension'). And I suspect that the content of a third book, headed 'In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension' has also the same content.

Since the Amazon method of selling books does not allow prospective customers to peruse books, it seems to me that in this particular case Amazon should make it explicitly clear that the above books have identical content.

Gunars Berzins

In Search of Time: Dan Falk *****
A truly fascinating overview of our understanding of that far from obvious phenomenon, time: All past, present and future of it (unless, of course, as Dan Falk suggests, past, present and future might actually be an illusion created by the way our brains are wired!) But before revelations of possibilities like this the author sets out on a more mundane path with an historical examination of our attempts to comprehend, measure and record time describing the complexity of a subject I, and possibly many others, take so much for granted. From this Falk moves on to Isaac Newton's great inspiration, then to Albert Einstein's great inspiration (the latter dependent upon the former) and from there we're whisked away into the mysterious and surreal realms of quantum theory, relativity theory, (where two and two no longer add up to four) gravity, black holes, string theory, dark energy and numerous other phenomena in our 'stranger-than-it's-possible-to-imagine' universe. Did you know that the time dilation effect predicted by Einstein's theory of Special Relativity has been proven? Time travel is established science then? (At least, into the future: It's trickier into the past). It's like this: If you could travel through space fast enough and for long enough then return to Earth,more time will have passed on Earth than has passed for you and this time could (theoretically) be substantial: Decades, centuries, millenia even. It happens to astronauts, though the time mis-match amounts to only the tiniest fraction of one second. But this gives rise to a question that probably demonstrates the weakness of my grasp on science: The author tells us that when two objects move relative to one another, either one can be thought of as the one that's moving because there's no 'fixed' place in the universe from which to measure movement (spacecraft orbiting the Earth, Earth itself around Sun, Sun around Galaxy and so on) in which case, who will experience the time-dilation effect, me at my desk or the astronaut in orbit round the Earth? I'm going back to this excellent book to check it out.

In Search of Time: Dan Falk *****

A truly fascinating overview of our understanding of that far from obvious phenomenon, time: All past, present and future of it (unless, of course, as Dan Falk suggests, past, present and future might actually be an illusion created by the way our brains are wired!) But before revelations of possibilities like this the author sets out on a more mundane path with an historical examination of our attempts to comprehend, measure and record time describing the complexity of a subject I, and possibly many others, take so much for granted.
From this Falk moves on to Isaac Newton's great inspiration, then to Albert Einstein's great inspiration (the latter dependent upon the former) and from there we're whisked away into the mysterious and surreal realms of quantum theory, relativity theory, (where two and two no longer add up to four) gravity, black holes, string theory, dark energy and numerous other phenomena in our 'stranger-than-it's-possible-to-imagine' universe. Did you know that the time dilation effect predicted by Einstein's theory of Special Relativity has been proven? Time travel is established science then? (At least, into the future: It's trickier into the past). It's like this: If you could travel through space fast enough and for long enough then return to Earth,more time will have passed on Earth than has passed for you and this time could (theoretically) be substantial: Decades, centuries, millenia even. It happens to astronauts, though the time mis-match amounts to only the tiniest fraction of one second.
But this gives rise to a question that probably demonstrates the weakness of my grasp on science: The author tells us that when two objects move relative to one another, either one can be thought of as the one that's moving because there's no 'fixed' place in the universe from which to measure movement (spacecraft orbiting the Earth, Earth itself around Sun, Sun around Galaxy and so on) in which case, who will experience the time-dilation effect, me at my desk or the astronaut in orbit round the Earth?
I'm going back to this excellent book to check it out.

Time ***
Very comprehensive - the history of time measurement was a bit too long for me. The results of all the experiments seem to indicate that we are not much nearer knowing the nature of time but the efforts are interesting!

Time ***

Very comprehensive - the history of time measurement was a bit too long for me. The results of all the experiments seem to indicate that we are not much nearer knowing the nature of time but the efforts are interesting!

all questions are explored *****
This is a clear and consise book that covers all aspects of the concept we call 'time'. With a general flair for keeping the reader interested, Dan Falk covers the history, the allusive definitions of and the future implications of this concept. As stated in the recommendations, "Falk's book is what Hawkings (A Brief History of Time) should have been." - Ottawa Citizen. I highly recommend this reading.

all questions are explored *****

This is a clear and consise book that covers all aspects of the concept we call 'time'. With a general flair for keeping the reader interested, Dan Falk covers the history, the allusive definitions of and the future implications of this concept. As stated in the recommendations, "Falk's book is what Hawkings (A Brief History of Time) should have been." - Ottawa Citizen. I highly recommend this reading.

Broad in Scope Yet Satisfying in Depth *****
In twelve fascinating chapters, the author discusses the vast subject of time. Each of these chapters contains a different perspective on this fascinating yet elusive topic. Roughly the first half of the book includes chapters on: humanity's early recognition of, and musings on, the passage of time, the development of the calendar, the invention of hours and minutes, as well as the cultural and psychological aspects of time. The second half of the book mainly deals with the physical, scientific and philosophical aspects of time, from Isaac Newton's perspective to the latest abstract thinking on the nature and existence of time. Here we find discussions on time's arrow, the beginning and the end of time as well as classical, relativistic and quantum mechanics. The writing style is clear, friendly, quite engaging and accessible to a wide readership. The author takes the time to explain any terms that may be unfamiliar to the casual reader but does not pull any punches when it comes to relaying the views of the various individuals, mainly scientists and philosophers, which he consulted in writing this book. Although anyone can enjoy it, this book would likely be appreciated the most by science buffs.

Broad in Scope Yet Satisfying in Depth *****

In twelve fascinating chapters, the author discusses the vast subject of time. Each of these chapters contains a different perspective on this fascinating yet elusive topic. Roughly the first half of the book includes chapters on: humanity's early recognition of, and musings on, the passage of time, the development of the calendar, the invention of hours and minutes, as well as the cultural and psychological aspects of time. The second half of the book mainly deals with the physical, scientific and philosophical aspects of time, from Isaac Newton's perspective to the latest abstract thinking on the nature and existence of time. Here we find discussions on time's arrow, the beginning and the end of time as well as classical, relativistic and quantum mechanics. The writing style is clear, friendly, quite engaging and accessible to a wide readership. The author takes the time to explain any terms that may be unfamiliar to the casual reader but does not pull any punches when it comes to relaying the views of the various individuals, mainly scientists and philosophers, which he consulted in writing this book. Although anyone can enjoy it, this book would likely be appreciated the most by science buffs.

Makes Time Fly! *****
Dan Falks book was both incredibly informative and refreshingly captivating. His unfaltering attention to detail and extensive research process was wonderfully concentrated into an expansive yet highly entertaining read. Never has a book about science been such a page-turner!

Makes Time Fly! *****

Dan Falks book was both incredibly informative and refreshingly captivating. His unfaltering attention to detail and extensive research process was wonderfully concentrated into an expansive yet highly entertaining read. Never has a book about science been such a page-turner!