The Little Book of Time
Time zones: past, present, and future
A new book on the phenomenon of time published by Springer
Time. It's a tool we use to measure virtually every aspect of our lives. And yet
as important as time is, rarely do we ponder the myriad of questions about it.
What is time, and how did humans first measure it? How was it that disparate
ancient cultures around the world came up with similar means of telling time? Is
time a constant, or can it speed up and slow down? What happens to time when
things travel at the speed of light? How long does the present last? Does time
go by continuously or in steps? Why is it that time flows in only one direction
-- from the past to the future? And will this direction be reversed at some
point? And will time, eventually, come to an end?
In The Little Book of Time, Klaus Mainzer considers these and many other
questions and provides a brief overview of the concept of time from antiquity to
the present. As a philosophical concept, time started out in the realm of
philosophers like Heraclitus, who likened it to the irreversible flow of a
river. After the Renaissance and the Copernican revolution, time became the
subject of scientists and especially physicists. The Little Book of Time
succinctly and clearly covers human concepts of time, from the ancients to
Newton to Einstein's theory of relativity and the conceptions of time in quantum
mechanics, with its profound consequences for modern cosmology.
Klaus Mainzer is a professor of philosophy and systems science at the
University of Augsburg, Germany. Among his previous books are Thinking in
Complexity: The Complex Dynamics of Matter, Mind, and Mankind and Symmetries of
Nature: A Handbook for Philosophy of Nature and Science.
Detailed information and order possibility:
Klaus Mainzer
The Little Book of Time
2002. Hardcover, 190 pp.
Euro 19.95 (net price); £14.00; $20.00; sFr 34.50
ISBN 0-387-95288-8
Contact and review copies:
Joan Robinson
Springer-Verlag Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49- (0) 6221-487-8130,
Fax: +49- (0) 6221-487-8141,
E-mail: robinson@springer.de
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