The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time

by Julian Barbour

What is time? The Janus Point offers a ground-breaking solution to one of the greatest mysteries in physics.

For over a century, the greatest minds have sought to understand why time seems to flow in one direction, ever forward. In The Janus Point, Julian Barbour offers a radically new answer: it doesn't.

At the heart of this book, Barbour provides a new vision of the Big Bang - the Janus Point - from which time flows in two directions, its currents driven by the expansion of the universe and the growth of order in the galaxies, planets and life itself. What emerges is not just a revolutionary new theory of time, but a hopeful argument about the destiny of our universe.

'Both a work of literature and a masterpiece of scientific thought' Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble with Physics

'Profound...original...accessible to anyone who has pondered the mysteries of space and time' Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal

'Takes on fundamental questions, offering a new perspective on how the Universe started and where it may be headed' Science Magazine

• ISBN10: 1473548861
• ISBN13: 9781473548862
• Publish Date: 3 December 2020 (first published 1 December 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Imprint: Vintage Digital
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jeff Sexton]

Intriguing Theoretical Astrophysics. If it wasn't clear from the description of this book, this book is *all about* theoretical astrophysics and the author's new theory of the origins and nature of time. If words like Newtonian and General Relativity and Leibniz and thermodynamics are part of your every day lexicon, you'll probably enjoy reading this. For the rest of us... at least there isn't much math involved in the actual text here? Specifically of the Calculus variety, which gives even many math-oriented people the heebie jeebies? Truly an intriguing work, but I'll be the first to say that I didn't fully follow or comprehend all of it - it is simply that high level. Even though Barbour tries to use narrative examples and structures designed to allow most anyone to have some idea of what is going on, at the end of the day this is still advanced theoretical astrophysics, of the kind that even Stephen Hawking wrestled with. While others more learned in the actual science may find fault here, for what it is I could find none. Very much recommended.