Radar is committed to all forms of art and entertainment and as such, will pick one book as a reading recommendation every week. This week, Radar’s “Lit” pick is “Time Travel” by James Gleick.
James Gleick is generally considered amongst the finest science writers in our time, and for good reason: He has an incredible ability to render difficult and esoteric concepts in a simple manner. From popularizing chaos theory to writing about information theory, Gleick has consistently elucidated difficult scientific concepts to the larger public. His most recent book, “Time Travel” continues this trend, while incorporating a different purview than science: The history of a concept.
“Time Travel” is less a book about the science of time travel, as it is a history of the very concept of time and time travel — a subject as interestingly esoteric as high level physics itself. Dwelling on the initial theories of time travel, Gleick travels through the history of scientific and philosophical ideas to bring about a holistic understanding of how humans have thought about time and time travel, as well as the many fictional works which initiated this theory. The result is an endlessly fascinating survey into what constitutes time, and the gap between perception and knowledge.
