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Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time cover art

Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time

Written by: Sean Carroll, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Sean Carroll
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Publisher's Summary

Time rules our lives, woven into the very fabric of the universe - from the rising and setting of the sun to the cycles of nature, the thought processes in our brains, and the biorhythms in our day. Nothing so pervades our existence and yet is so difficult to explain.

But now, in a series of 24 riveting lectures, you can grasp exactly why - as you take a mind-expanding journey through the past, present, and future, guided by a noted author and scientist. Designed for nonscientists as well as those with a background in physics, the lectures show how a feature of the world that we all experience - a process known as entropy - connects us to the instant of the formation of the universe, and possibly to a multiverse that is unimaginably larger and more varied than the known cosmos.

Drawing on such exciting ideas as black holes, cosmic inflation, and dark energy, the lectures also address a momentous question that until recently was considered unanswerable: What happened before the big bang? And while the focus is on physics, Professor Carroll also examines philosophical views on time, how we perceive and misperceive time, the workings of memory, and serious proposals for time travel, as well as imaginative ways that time has been disrupted in fiction.

"What is time?" asked Saint Augustine 1,600 years ago. "If no one asks me, I know. But if I wish to explain it to someone who asks, I know not." These lectures will move you much closer to an answer.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Mysteries of Modern Physics: Time

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Dissapointing

You won't learn much about the mysteries of time and physics, wanders off into all sorts of other dull old topics.

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Fantastic

I am not a scientist and I found this very easy to follow but I didn’t feel as if the course material was being dumbed down, just put into layman’s terms. Professor Carroll is very compelling and kept my attention throughout his lectures. I found myself listening to 3-4 lectures back to back. This has inspired me to research further into certain things he mentioned. I really enjoyed this.

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An entertaining Intellectual journey.

Sean explains time and the Physics of the universe in plain language that we can for the most part comprehend.

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I am not smart enough

Fancinating exploration on time via physics. But I found some of the chapters difficult to follow.

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Sean Carroll does it again!

Another winner by Sean Carroll, who has quickly become my favourite physicist and author.

I have listened to this audio book twice and it was great both times. It's a great balance of practical and theoretical physics applied to the concept of time and entropy.

Highly recommend. Also check out The Big Picture by Sean Carroll if you like this kind of thing.

Light to moderate understanding of modern physics would help in reading this book, though probably not completely necessary.

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