| From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time |  | Author: Sean Carroll
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $15.56
as of 3/18/2010 01:53 CDT details
New (31) Used (11) from $15.56
Seller: pbshop
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 447
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 0525951334
Dewey Decimal Number: 530.11
EAN: 9780525951339
Publication Date: January 7, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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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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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
It's all about entropy March 7, 2010
W. Cheung (Adelaide, Australia)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
In a nutshell: how is it possible for the universe to have a low entropy state at any point in time? The author is honest in saying that he does not know the answer to this mystery. He expounds briefly upon his own preferred conjecture, among others. Whether it is convincing or not is up to individual readers.
It is a book for those readers who need to learn from scratch the concept of entropy and the importance of this concept and the arrow of time. For those who already know quite a bit about this aspect of cosmology this book may be a bit repetitive. Also, the puzzle of why we experience the "present" is not discussed in any depth, if at all. This is as mysterious as the mystery of entropy itself.
good so far March 4, 2010
Karl Jay A. Garcia (Dulles, VA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
haven't had much time, only on first couple of chapters. I consider myself a non-newbie with Physics, the concept of Time and Relativity, etc...
The first chapter is elementary, but after that, it is a great refreshing way of looking at things. I highly recommend it.
Although I've just started and stopped due to my busy schedule (hence this review may be considered premature and incomplete), I still would risk recommending this even if the rest of it is terrible (highly unlikely).
 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.
 This book can't be unscrambled February 26, 2010
Calochortus (San Luis Obispo, CA)
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
I found the style of the book hard to deal with. It's overwritten, with a lot of silly examples thrown into the mix that just confuses the story and delays the reader from the points the author is trying to make. So it's not an elegant discussion we have here. It's the feeling you get when someone takes way too long to tell a joke, embellishing to the point of frustration. I would advise reading part of this before jumping in with a purchase, maybe you'll like it. Wished I had, what a waste and disappointment.
From The Inside February 20, 2010
William B. Schaefer (Virginia, USA)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm not a physicist or a cosmologist. I bought this book not so much to understand the science of time but to integrate new scientific theory and fact into my understanding of reality. Since Fritjof Capra's The Tao Of Physics first helped me understand the connection between the "new" science and my spiritual path twenty some years ago, I have looked to progressive scientists to take their place as essential teachers in my struggle to understand and grow.
Sean Carroll's From Eternity To Here has been an enlightening experience. Mr. Carroll writes with clarity, focus, and yes, even humor about the nature of time. Never slipping into "science-speak", never speaking down to those of us who found advanced science and math classes way beyond boring, he makes accessible understanding of the new theories and established facts about time, relativity, and the nature of our universe.
Limitations? Well, yes. As is the case with almost all scientific writing, one quickly gets the feeling that the perspective of what we are reading is of someone "on the inside looking at the inside." There is an inevitable feeling of profound examination of the universal belly-button.
Our scientific focus has yet to come to grips with the need to widen scientific horizons, to hear and heed the clarion call of spiritual teachers through the ages to open to the experience of transcendence and then task conscious mind to examine, weigh and measure, and then - finally - to "understand" the nature of our being.
Buy the book. It's great. The new science is wonderful and elegant. And if you listen closely you'll hear God's voice gently calling to Mr. Carroll, "Over here... over here..."
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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