Time Reborn
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Summary
Throughout the history of physics, many physicists, cosmologists and thinkers—including Galileo, Plato, Newton and Einstein—have held that time is merely an ultimate illusion; most of their theories, too, stand independent of time.
In The Order of Time, Professor Smolin argues that time plays a crucial role in the interpretation of quantum mechanics and in the ultimate unification of quantum mechanics with spacetime, and of gravity with cosmology. How did this view of time take shape?
What price do we pay in banishing time from physics and cosmology? And once we accept that time is real, what will we pay, and what will we gain? Time Reborn will give you the answer—and a very different view of time.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Popular science readers interested in the nature of time and cosmology.
- Physics enthusiasts who want to understand前沿 debates in quantum gravity.
- Readers who enjoy the combination of intellectual history and scientific argument.
- Readers with some science background who are willing to read slowly and think.
Not a good fit for
- People looking for light, entertaining physics stories.
- Readers with no science background who are unwilling to engage with abstract arguments.
- People expecting definitive conclusions rather than open-ended discussion.
Reading tips
- Start with the introduction and table of contents to grasp the author's core argument against the traditional view of time.
- Slow down in argument-dense chapters and take brief notes to trace the logic.
- Don't try to memorize every physics concept; focus on understanding the author's questions.
- After finishing, return to the beginning to see how your understanding of the argument for the reality of time has changed.
About the publisher
Zhejiang People's Publishing House is a comprehensive publisher known for its social science, history and foreign literature titles, covering philosophy, politics, law, economics, culture and history. Among the books in the library catalogue, its foreign literature list includes Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country and The Old Capital in well-known translations, as well as Wuthering Heights; its history list is represented by Dangnian Mingyue's Ming Dynasty series, and its politics list by Zhejiang New Discourse. Authors represented include Yasunari Kawabata, Ye Weiqu, Tang Yuemei, Dangnian Mingyue, Emily Brontë and René Wellek, with Wellek's Theory of Literature (newly revised edition) among its titles in literary theory. Beyond these areas, the press also publishes works on literary appreciation and social culture, giving it a profile that combines classic translations, popular history and academic works. As publicly available information is limited, other details are not covered here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 寄语 科学伴光与电前行，引领你我展翅翱翔
- 前言 时间是什么
- 引言 美妙的意外，皆源于时间的惊涛骇浪
- 第一幕 时间之重：驱逐时间
- 00:01 总是在下落的万物
- 00:02 消失的时间
- 00:03 接物游戏
- 00:04 牛顿与盒中物理学
- 00:05 所谓新鲜和意外，从来就不可能被创造
- 00:06 爱因斯坦的相对论与时间“独立”
- 00:07 量子宇宙学，时间的终结
- 幕间 爱因斯坦的不满
- 第二幕 时间之轻：时间重生
- 00:08 牛顿回答不了的问题
- 00:09 不完美的有效理论
- 00:10 一个终极宇宙论正徐徐向我们张开双臂
- 00:11 从独立于时间到随时间而变
- 00:12 解放量子力学
- 00:13 相对论与量子力学之战
- 00:14 时间于相对论中重生
- 00:15 空间的演生
- 00:16 为什么宇宙如此有趣：宇宙中的生死
- 00:17 时间于光与热中重生
- 00:18 无限的空间，还是无限的时间
- 00:19 时间的未来
- 结语 未来，于时间内求索
- 译者后记
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About the author
Lee Smolin is an American theoretical physicist widely noted for his explorations in quantum gravity and cosmology. Several of his works have been introduced to Chinese readers, with five titles held in the collection, spanning popular science, scientific thinking, and a science masters series, including The Truth of Quantum Mechanics and Time Reborn. His writing often starts from fundamental questions in physics, discussing the nature of time, quantum theory, and the universe, and places frontier research within a broader intellectual context. It addresses general readers while also offering scientists methodological inspiration. His popular science works emphasize the step-by-step development of concepts rather than a listing of conclusions, and have thus attracted some attention among Chinese popular science readers. It should be noted that public information on his birth and death years, nationality, and full educational background is limited; this entry presents his subject matter and style mainly on the basis of his published works.
Zhong Yiming is a theoretical physicist and translator. Public information about him is limited; his academic background includes study at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada, and he holds a master's degree from the University of Waterloo and a doctorate from Stony Brook University. He translated Time Reborn, contributing to the introduction of popular science works. Two of his works are included in the collection: the translation Time Reborn and The Greatest Intellectual Adventure, both in the popular science category and touching on themes such as time, the universe, and scientific exploration. Based on the available information, his writing and translation tend toward accessible presentations of frontier theoretical physics, focusing on turning specialized concepts into narratives that readers can understand, suitable for those interested in cosmology and fundamental questions of physics.
