What is time? Why is time so important in our lives? What role does it play? Does it really exist? These are all questions that arise as one ponders the nature of time itself. Scientists, artists, and philosophers have all attempted to explore the true nature of time, without much success and with some contradictions. Time passes faster in lower gravity, so that someone standing on top of a tall mountain will live less time than someone at sea level. It wasn't until the telegraph, which ushered the means of communicating around the globe almost instantaneously, that the world suddenly needed to synchronize clocks. Prior to that, noon in one spot was the time where the sun was highest, and because of slow transportation methods, it didn't really matter that the time in a neighboring town wasn't quite the same.
An industrial and communications revolution later, however, it became necessary to track time in precise intervals, to ensure the smooth operation of the marketplace and of the government. But for humans who had spent thousands of years experiencing time based on the sun's movements in the skies, this transition to accurate time keeping shook the very foundations of how we perceive time. In The Order of Time, Rovelli seeks to reconcile us with a concept that may be more in our head than an actual immutable law of physics.
Fans of philosophical musings and those who enjoy reading scientific information will appreciate the questions that this book sparks, and will wonder at the true nature of time.
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