From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time |  | Author: Sean Carroll
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Category: Book
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Media: Hardcover
Pages: 448
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Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 0525951334
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.11
EAN: 9780525951339
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| • | ISBN13: 9780525951339 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
A rising star in theoretical physics offers his awesome vision of our universe and beyond, all beginning with a simple question: Why does time move forward?
Time moves forward, not backward-everyone knows you can't unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today's hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other universes, too. In From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll argues that the arrow of time, pointing resolutely from the past to the future, owes its existence to conditions before the Big Bang itself-a period modern cosmology of which Einstein never dreamed. Increasingly, though, physicists are going out into realms that make the theory of relativity seem like child's play. Carroll's scenario is not only elegant, it's laid out in the same easy-to- understand language that has made his group blog, Cosmic Variance, the most popular physics blog on the Net.
From Eternity to Here uses ideas at the cutting edge of theoretical physics to explore how properties of spacetime before the Big Bang can explain the flow of time we experience in our everyday lives. Carroll suggests that we live in a baby universe, part of a large family of universes in which many of our siblings experience an arrow of time running in the opposite direction. It's an ambitious, fascinating picture of the universe on an ultra-large scale, one that will captivate fans of popular physics blockbusters like Elegant Universe and A Brief History of Time.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
 A captivating read on a deep and difficult topic January 7, 2010
A Cosmologist
61 out of 71 found this review helpful
The arrow of time is a central issue in fundamental physics, and one that remains an open question even in the age of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a tall task even to define the question properly, never mind to explain what some of the proposed resolutions are. Nevertheless, Carroll is one of the best writers of popular science working today, and in this book he tackles the topic beautifully, guiding the reader through the relevant ideas, many of which we all think we have an intuitive feel for, like entropy, and explaining their physical meanings, and how gravity complicates the story.
The book is worth reading for its expert descriptions of the background material alone, but the reader hungry for speculations of how physics at the frontier may provide an understanding of the arrow of time will not be disappointed. Carroll devotes ample space to the concepts of cosmic inflation, the role of quantum mechanics, baby universes, and the setting that string theory may provide for all of this. None of this is settled ground in physics yet, and the author makes that entirely clear. But it hard to read this account and not come away with a tangible sense of the excitement to be found in taking on these most fundamental of problems.
Genius for non-geniuses! January 7, 2010
David Grae
36 out of 45 found this review helpful
I am not a physicist. I majored in English in college. I shouldn't be able to understand this book on any level. But I do. And it's fascinating. Illuminating. And just plain interesting as hell. That's Sean Carroll's greatest achievement in this page-turner about the TIME we live in. If you have any interest at all in getting your head around just what this elusive "time" we all experience is all about, you should read this book.
Sean Carroll Hits a Home Run January 14, 2010
Robert B. Zannelli (Ocala FL USA)
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
Carroll has a talent for clear and in depth descriptions of cutting edge Cosmology and Physics. This book is an example of this talent. For anyone with any interests in Cosmology or Physics this book is a must read.
Recommended March 3, 2010
Sandy Huckabee (Arkadelphia, AR USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Carroll does an excellent job of navigating through the most daunting intellectual icebergs. More amazingly, he does so in language that does not exclude readers with less technical background. Although I approach the sciences from the perspective of Intelligent Design, Carroll speaks in terms of the science without preaching. I strongly recommend this book.
An exceptional read January 7, 2010
Glenn Kleier
11 out of 19 found this review helpful
Whenever a scientist attempts to make complex topics such as space/time accessible to the layman, he/she must inevitably cut some corners lest the average reader become hopelessly lost. One method for doing so is to use the rhetorical vehicle of analogy, with which a certain reviewer below is obviously not acquainted. Kudos to Mr. Carroll for translating eggheadspeak into the vulgate.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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