The author of "The Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" takes us on a fascinating journey into the depths of the concept of time.
"We are time. We are this space, this interval that is revealed through the traces of memory in the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We long for a future that will not come."
Time is a mystery that never ceases to amaze us. Philosophers, artists, and poets have long explored its meaning, while scientists have discovered that its structure differs from our simple intuitive ideas about it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to the loops of quantum gravity, the way we understand time has undergone radical changes. Time flows at different rates in different places, the past differs from the future much less than we believe, and the very idea of the present is lost in our infinite universe.
Carlo Rovelli, with his extraordinary charm and a deep sense of reverence, combines science with philosophy and art to unravel this mystery. "The Order of Time," an enlightening and unexpectedly comforting book, shows us that to understand ourselves, we must contemplate time - and that to understand time, we must contemplate ourselves.