Time: Its Origin, Its Enigma, Its History

by Alexander Waugh

Book Overview

Fresh and accessible, entertaining and informative, this volume by Alexander Waugh recounts the flops and follies, triumphs and fears, crackpot theories and wondrous discoveries that have shaped the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786708700
• ISBN13: 9780786708703
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

No need to fear time

From eternity, to the smallest fraction of a second, Alexader Waugh leads us on a "fun" journey through the speculation, science, and nonsense of the frustratingly difficult-to-grasp concept of time. This book is great reading that helps clears up some of those nagging little questions of time and culture. Humor is not exclusive to science and the author breaks up some otherwise technical jargon and concepts with some irreverant stories. I love the way that we are treated to the theories and mistaken theories of some of history's most noted personalities. I found particulaly insightful the discussions about the competing roles of politics, science, and religion in defining various time standards (seconds, hours, years, etc.). Why do we have 12 hours to a day (instead of 10?) Why 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in minute. Why 12 months to a year? Considering so much else is base 10, why all this other stuff? Those with an inclination to math will find this book particularly interesting. Not interesting in a complex formula sort of way, but in a trivia cultural history of numbers sort of way. There's a lot of good math and number history in this book that I'll bet your math friends are never taught in college. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The true math nerds and philosophers may find it disapointing if they are expecting some break-through answers. For the rest of us, well the book is a fun step into The Twilight Zone.

The sort of book you can read again and again!

artyvaughan@yahoo.co.uk from UK The sort of book you want to read again and again!The is is an extraordinary book - not just because of all the fascinating things that it tells you about time, but because of the way the author plays the reader. He lets you suppose one thing and changes tack, telling you that what you had just learned was not in fact true. The reader needs to stay on his toes, not be fooled by this ingenious method, the author seems to be telling us not to take anythnng for granted. The style is witty and entertaining, but the book also manages to impart a huge amount of condensed information and makes this complicated subject extremely interesting in all of its cultural, historical and scientific dimensions. I was so impressed that I have read it now three times. I have read twenty or so books on time but this one is by far and away the most appealing. Waugh's theory on the derivation of the seven-day week beats them all!

Interesting history, light in science

The book is basically made up of two parts: an historic overview of how time came to be measured the way it is (why there are 60 seconds in a minute, 12 months in a year, etc.); and a more esoteric discussion of the essence of time. The historic information was fascinating and was exactly what I had hoped for. I did not read this book hoping to get an in-depth scientific analysis of the dimension of Time (there are tons of other books out there to address that need) and thought the level at which that subject was covered was appropriate for this books intended audience.

A unique telling of the history of time

This book is predominately a history of time and a fascinating history at that. By breaking the chapters up into length of time (second, minute, hour, etc.), the numerous facts and stories are well organized and easy to retain. Time is a difficult subject to write about because no one has ever understood it. Alexander Waugh is no exception. Although, he does successfully unveil our ignorance on the subject, a discussion curiously hidden from scholarly writings. The chapters are a quick read with oversized text that quickly jumps from a period of time to another. All in all, the book does an excellent job focusing on the happenstance of yesterday that brought about are modern notion of time. I deducted the one star because of Mr. Waugh's liberal writing style. It was amusing at times but a little much for all 288 pages.

Time : Its Origin, Its Enigma, Its History

Great book, its REALLY makes you wonder about where are we really in time, and what is in the near and far future. Its gets in-depth with what exactly is time, and what excactly is ANYHTING we concider to be real without seein it. Such as numbers. A must read.