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From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
By Sean Carroll
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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About this ebook
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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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.
Watch a Video
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Author
Sean Carroll
Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of natural philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He won the Royal Society Winton Prize for his book on the search for the elusive Higgs boson, The Particle at the End of the Universe, and The Big Picture was an international bestseller. He lives in Los Angeles. @seanmcarroll preposterousuniverse.com
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Reviews for From Eternity to Here
Rating: 3.824324324324324 out of 5 stars
4/5
111 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I read this as research for an upcoming book that I probably won't write for another 5 years from now. I'll have to reread the book again and will leave a more detailed review then.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I don't like a quest. I like scientific research, creativity, non-conformist ideas. Luckily it's only the subtitle of the book that I hold a grudge against. In the book itself you'll find scientific research, creativity and non-conformist thinking. And a scientist who tells us that some of his ideas aren't science but speculation. (Well, 'predictions' my ass). All too often scientists use misplaced authority in popular science books when it comes to defending their own theories. Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist at CalTech, isn't one of them, and that is laudable.From Eternity to Here (2010) is a book about the arrow of time. What is time? The answer in a nutshell: experiencing the tendency of the universe to increase its entropy, a measure of "disorder". There we have them again. Scrambled eggs won't unscramble (although quantum mechanics tell us there's a small chance it will happen. And if you wait long enough it inevitably will happen). The milk in your coffee that won't get unmixed.Entropy tends to stay the same or increase on a large scale. That's because there are more possible combinations of chaos than of order. If an earthquake hits your pile of books, it tends to fall over. If the books are on the ground and the second wave of earthquakes come, generally they won't pile on top of each other.That seems to be what we perceive as time: the direction from low entropy to higher entropy. It will eventually end with everything - all matter, all fields, all of spacetime - in equilibrium, which means time will stop as well. No change, no time, ma'am.Carroll speculates however that it won't stop there. In an equilibrium universe entropy will continue to grow by creating bubbles that are new universes. These universes start out low in entropy, and the unlimited increase can continue.Why does Sean Carroll come up with the need for eternal increase of entropy, to the cost of a yet unfalsifiable multiverse theory? Reason is that our own universe started out in a strange, very low entropy state. And that poses problems. Not only for the development of our universe, but for the current state of our universe as well. After all, the highest chance for us is to find ourselves in such a De Sitter space. In such a space there's equilibrium without an arrow of time. Weak anthropic principle, but with a twist.The book fills up with explanations about the usual suspects. That is: entropy, general relativity, quantum physics, string theory, black holes and event horizons, AdS/CFT . The whole cast of characters you'll find in most current books about cosmology. In that regard the book won't teach you much extra. But it is a good overview structured from another perspective: the perspective of time. As a bonus it takes you on a mind-boggling tour of possibilities. From the dimensions of infinite space to the multiverse in its many variations. A well written book with an interesting conclusion. Worth your time.For those missing the most basic of mathematics you should read the 'math' section at the end of the book first. For those with a few years of high school math: dive right in. Follow the arrow From Eternity to Here.In the right direction, that is.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is more of a layperson's book than I expected. The first 3/4 of the book rehashes your high school and college physics, and then it proposes some speculative ideas to explain the low entropy of the early universe. However, the speculative ideas (I'm trying avoid spoilers) are not new. That would be fine, if there were some evidence to support them, but there was none. I was disappointed.
It's a quick read though. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A lucid, reasonably understandable look at relatively, quantum mechanics, and time. The author seeks to understand and explain time's arrow, and trace time back to the Big Bang...or before, if possible. There are some points where it appears the author does not understand biology (nothing unusual for a physicist; most don't), but otherwise the work is interesting, comprehensible, and thorough. His solution to the problems posed by the current state of physical knowledge is interesting, and he almost convinces me it could be possible. I am at least leaving an open mind. There are a couple of chapters in which the explanations get a bit tedious, but most of the book reads well, though for some inexplicable reason, it took me a longer time than usual. Perhaps some sort of cosmic irony, considering the topic.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I’ll be honest: this was a tough job. Sean Carroll really does his best to explain the basic issues of theoretical physics in a comprehensible and pleasant way. Certainly in the beginning he uses a lot of humour (lots of cats!), nice literary references and a very patient style to successfully present the basics on classical mechanics (from Newton to Einstein) and quantum mechanics.But somewhere halfway through, he starts with what is the logical main part when it comes to time as a physical phenomenon: entropy. And from then on this book becomes a difficult read. From as many as 20 different perspectives, Carroll tries to answer the question why that entropy exists, how it defines the one-directional arrow of time, and why in our universe it runs from past to future (yep, apparently that is not an obvious question).Everything seems to come down to the initial state of our universe, namely in low entropy. But why was it actually that low back then? Carroll jumps from one issue to another, from one scenario or theory to another, and new aspects constantly appear that make the proposed hypotheses unlikely. It has been cited in some reviews: this book looks like an infinite set of Russian dolls that are put together. But he has to conclude: we know to little (especially on quantum gravity) to give clear answers.At the end of the book, Carroll ventures into his own hypothesis (he calls it a prediction), which is inspired by multiverse theory. He admits that he is very speculative, but he also defends that approach, because that is simply the way in which science advances. This was a very interesting book, which ultimately does not provide a satisfactory answer to the question why time exists as it exists, but it does provide an honest insight into how science works.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ostensibly this book is about time and why it goes only one way. Mostly, it's about entropy, and it's a bit repetitive, and not as elucidating as one might hope. I think it may be intended primarily for those working or studying in the areas of cosmology or quantum field theory rather than laymen such as myself.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A good read...please take the time to grasp what is being said...this is not for a first timer in my opinion. You need at least a base understanding of the concepts of space-time and relativity (it would help to understand basic cosmology too). Now I'm not saying that this is meant for a PhD candidate by any means it just would help to understand it a little.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The book starts out with an understandable discussion. Toward the end I started to get lost and disinterested. Note: I have a PhD in engineering and taught physics. I appreciate that Sean is an expert in theoretical physics and has written an interesting book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Eternity. There is a big idea. Introduced me to the wonders of gravitation and entropy. Were the number of microstates fewer in the early universe? He comes down on the side of no but the mechanics of it would say yes. If that were true (fewer micro-states) where did the new information come from? So much for LaPlace's Demon.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5a very thoughtful book, at times very readable for non sciencfic at other times very hard, not a lot of math but very detialed
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something about the tone of the first few chapters put me off at first and it took me a long time to get back to this book. Once I did get back to it, though, I read it through quickly and eagerly. Carroll's lighthearted and "geekish" style (which may have been what put me off at first) makes pleasant reading of his voluminous background information so that a casual, non-physicist, reader can get up to some kind of speed, at least, on recent (and not-so-recent) developments in cosmology that pertain to our understanding of time.Most of the book--maybe 95%--is background information. He reserves explication of his own theory for the last chapter, although it's forwshadowed throughout. I would have preferred a longer explication, mainly because it's pretty mind-warping to me, but it could be that there's just not that much to say about new universes bubbling up out of vacuum energy.I'm a sucker for popular books on difficult scientific/mathematical subjects so might have this overrated, but I liked it a lot and recommend it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good explanations and examples of entropy. A little repetitive, but that may be necessary to get complex concepts across to the educated lay reader.