A modern classic, Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in , about time, relativity and physics. As. Few endeavors are more beguiling than a grossly improbable conceit realized with subtlety and wit. Science writer Lightman (A Modern Day Yankee in a. All are about time, and all are dreamt by Albert Einstein in Berne, in the Time out of mind: Einstein’s dreams by Alan Lightman – Bloomsbury.
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Nonetheless, he wrote much of his groundbreaking papers during this time and emerged as a leading scientist shortly thereafter. InLightman put his ideas into words with his critically-acclaimed book: In the book, a fictional Einstein dreams of a new conception of time in every new chapter, sometimes incorporating the actual consequences of special relativity.
But this book goes well beyond the scope of physics. Each new concept of time raises new questions in the realms of psychology, ethics, and metaphysics.
Eventually the higher, slow-motion residents start snubbing their elevation-challenged peers, but some develop an insatiable compulsion to live at the ligbtman point possible.
Meanwhile, others take a more down-to-earth view. Instead of chasing heights, those who remain on the surface seem content to live shorter — albeit more relaxed — lives.
Each chapter presents new puzzles and challenges. What if time were circular and repeating? What if time increasingly slowed down until it stopped at certain geographic locations? What if cause and effect had temporal link, and effects sometimes came days or months before the actual cause? Many of the chapters are mind-boggling, yet all of them are insightful.
Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman
A brief respite in a more familiar reality gives the reader some time to breathe before delving into another foreign world. One such chapter depicts a eeinstein where time slows down when people move faster. This time dilation is relative, however.
But even the clock tower remains in motion relative to the buzzing inhabitants.
Constantly jumping from one conception of time to another may turn off some readers. I think this favors the book; it definitely has a strangeness worth diving into.
Would I embrace the time-slowing rat race, or would I linger, ironically, as time moved more quickly? Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already. American Physical Society Sites: