From eternity to here
by Sean M. Carroll · first published 2009
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, well-written popular physics on the arrow of time and the nature of time. It is one of the best science trade books and suits those seeking an approachable introduction to modern physics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 mod
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…Universe and the Arrow of Time" * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrs-Azp0i3k - "Higgs Boson and the Fundamental Nature of Reality" * http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Here-Quest-Ultimate-Theory/dp... - "From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time"
on “The Laws Underlying the Physics of Everyday Life Are Completely Understood” ↗From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll is a worthwhile read. The book isn't particularly about the Big Bang (it's more about the nature of the arrow of time), but it has to deal with the subject in passing. I can also recommend…
on “Cosmic inflation preceded the Big Bang” ↗I love Sean Carroll (Something Deeply Hidden and From Eternity to Here are the root of my fascination with physics and endless pondering of the nature of time) but I have to disagree with his take on this. Hypothesis - a proposed explanation for something (such as a phenomenon…
on “Tiny Black Holes May Be Exploding Stars Across the Milky Way” ↗Off the top of my head -> Carroll, From Eternity to Here - reasonably good and quite accessible. Coveney, The Arrow of Time - better than average All of my books are packed away right now for a move, so I'm sorry I can't come up with more. Though that Carroll…
on “The discrete-time physics hiding inside our continuous-time world” ↗Would recommend reading Chapter 3 "From Eternity to Here" by Sean Carroll (or maybe read the entire book) for a "light weight" introduction. If you don't have the time then TL;DR : universe is expanding means literally that, i.e it is almost as if new space…
on “Is dark matter’s “nightmare scenario” true?” ↗I’ll check this one out, thanks. You might enjoy “From Eternity To Here” by Sean Carroll, which is a pretty deep exploration of similar topics.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗“From Eternity To Here” by Sean Carroll has some nice discussions of it. He can be a bit much at times and could stand to have better editing (the book is 25% too long), but he does have some of the most approachable modern…
on “New interpretations suggest the "heat death" hypothesis might not hold (2023)” ↗His book From Eternity to Here on the subject of time is one of the very best science trade books I have ever read. It is chock full of end notes too which are a must read so bring two bookmarks to that party :) I suspect though he…
on “New theory suggests time is an illusion created by quantum entanglement” ↗…exists, the future does not yet exist and only the present moment exists. Neither are positions about whether there is/was a first moment of time. I just finished reading the physicist Sean Carroll's book "From Eternity to Here", which is mostly about the thermodynamic arrow of time and big bang cosmology. He briefly discusses presentism and eternalism, before writing: "Concerning the debate between eternalism and presentism,…
on “The metaphysical presuppositions of formal logic” ↗Thanks, I liked it a lot too! Two similar books that I'm currently reading are: • From Eternity to Here - Sean Carroll • The Computational Beauty of Nature - Gray Flake I'd love to hear your thoughts on them if you've read them.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Disclaimer: I haven't read the book OR the article. It's encouraging that Robin Hanson (who's a former physicist) has called the book excellent: http://www.overcomingbias.com/2010/01/from-eternity-to-here.... From his description, and from the bits and pieces I've picked up on other blogs, while the book is a popular science book, it's skewed much more to the science side than the popular side.
on “What Is Time? One Physicist Hunts for the Ultimate Theory” ↗