the Little Book of Time
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Author(s): K. Mainzer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0387952888
Format: hardback
175pp
Price: £14.00, $20.00, €19.95
Review Date: 26 November 2002
Review: This little book, translated from the German, looks at all aspects of the concept of time. It looks at its history, from the classical and medieval worldviews, through the classical physics of Newton and Leibnitz, to the current theories of relativistic space and the quantum world. The theory of ‘time’s arrow’ and the increase of entropy with the second law of thermodynamics lead to a discussion of the irreversibility and self-organisation of time. Darwin’s theory of evolution and time hierarchies and biological rhythms all add to the story. The phenomenon of time consciousness is intimately connected to the dynamics of the brain’s different states of consciousness and the experience of time and the emergence of consciousness are discussed. Finally, the author examines time in the context of historical cultures and technological-industrial cultures.