The Order of Time

This essay in physics and philosophy asks what the word time refers to once thermodynamics, relativity, and quantum theory are taken seriously. Rovelli argues that a universal flowing present is not a feature of the fundamental equations, and that what we call time's direction is tied to entropy and to the incomplete information of observers. He moves from Newton's absolute time to Einstein's spacetime, thermal time, and the loop-quantum picture in which events, not things, are basic. Everyday memory and anticipation are treated as features of our brains in a world without a master clock. The book is a popular argument about temporal order, not a textbook of equations and not a history of clocks.

Bound in blind-blocked purple cloth, with gold-foil blocking. Purple cloth slipcase blocked in gold with a pattern.