The End of Time
by Julian Barbour · first published 1999
42% recommend50% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Popular account of timeless physics and the shift from absolute to relative views of space and time, carried into the 20th century; recommended to readers who want the ideas explained directly without heavy math.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Time is an illusion. Although the laws of physics create a powerful impression that time is flowing, in fact there are only timeless `nows'. In The End of Time, the British theoretical physicist Julian Barbour describes the coming revolution in our understanding of the world: a quantum theory of the universe that brings together Einstein's general theory of relativity - which denies the existence of a unique time - and quantum mechanics - which demands one. Barbour believes that only the most radical of ideas can resolve the conflict between these two theories: that there is, quite literally,
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I also recommend the non-fiction physics book “The End of Time” by Julian Barbour. It explains these ideas directly, and inspired Stephenson to write Anathem. Weirdly, I happened to be reading all 3 of these around the same time, not initially realizing they were…
on “Permutation City (1994)” ↗Julian Barbour's The Discovery of Dynamics goes into great detail on absolute vs. relative pre-Einstein. His The End of Time reviews the ideas at a more popular level and continues the story into the 20th C.
on “Why Understanding Space Is So Hard” ↗You might want to read some of Julian Barbour's writing, in particular his "The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics" where he tries to explain a theory of timelessness with an apparent arrow of time. Here is a rather long interview I found (and only skimmed to confirm its mostly relevant):…
on “The illusion of time” ↗You might enjoy Julian Barbour's theory of timeless physics, as described in his book "the End of Time".
on “Entropy explained, with sheep (2016)” ↗…limitation that we perceive distance as something to be overcome through rocket ships and not through other methods. Time is also in the same category. If you want to read a good book on the topic read “the end of Time quote by Jason Barbour.
on “The World is Built on Probability [1988/2023]” ↗…to demand, there’s no such thing as change at all. There’s no becoming, only being. This was the conclusion reached by Parmenides in ancient times. Julian Barbour wrote a book on the subject called The End of Time, for those who are interested.
on “Time Travel (2006)” ↗Time is one slippery concept. I have a book called "The End of Time" by Julian Barbour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Time_(book) , which I have read, but lack enough of a formal education to understand.
on “In Search of Time’s Origin” ↗The End of Time by Julian Barbour said something similar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Time_(book) Its interesting, the but the picture of reality that it conjures up is ultimately a bit of a stretch, in…
on “The illusion of time” ↗…experimentally proven and is not taught as standard physics. Today's post draws heavily on the work of the physicist Julian Barbour, and contains diagrams stolen and/or modified from his book "The End of Time". However, some of the arguments here are of my own devising, and Barbour might(?) not agree with them.
on “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality finished today” ↗…opposing viewpoint, the British physicist Julian Barbour has been trying to work out the math for a timeless physics: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Barbour He lays out his theory in his book, The End of Time.
on “A Defense of the Reality of Time” ↗Just speaking from Julian Barbour's The End of Time perspective: When they say time isn't real, they mean something more like "not ontologically fundamental" -- i.e. you can produce a model with no explicit reference to time, and it can produce all the…
on “A Defense of the Reality of Time” ↗Zoinks! that'll teach me not to comment before reading the article. Thanks for the heads up! It's interesting how, in the OP, Barbour doesn't use much of the language he leaned on for "The End of Time' [1999, the source of the ideas I was referring to]. Maybe couching his ideas in more normal language is helping him reach a wider audience, which is great. Side note : I once emailed Barbour with some…
on “The Mystery of Time’s Arrow” ↗Your point is very similar (equivalent IMHO) to Julian Barbour's case in The End of Time, that you can express the laws of physics without reference to time, since time can be defined with respect to a special distance metric between universe states (the Machian distinguished simplifier).…
on “Holographic universe experiment begins” ↗…timeless universe composed of a large number of mathematical configuration spaces he calls "nows" -- i.e., it contains many states, but no objective notion of time -- outlined in his pop-sci book "The End of Time" [1999] and his website http://platonia.com/ p.s. for the record, Barbour is no clown, but a serious cat -- he is also the guy that wrote "Absolute or Relative Motion / the Discovery of Dynamics" which…
on “Physicists Debate Hawking’s Idea That the Universe Had No Beginning” ↗…assembled myself from many sources, so there's no one book about it, but definitely a lot of sources of inspiration. My understanding of the nature of time comes mainly from Julian Barbour's book "the End of Time", which itself is not an easy read and took me a long time to digest. Although, the philosophy is compatible with more conventional theories of time, as long as it postulates time as a structure that…
on “Ask HN: What is the most complex concept you understand?” ↗