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Now
- The Physics of Time - and the Ephemeral Moment That Einstein Could Not Explain
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
“Now” is a simple yet elusive concept. You are reading the word now right now. But what does that mean? What makes the ephemeral moment "now" so special? Its enigmatic character has bedeviled philosophers, priests, and modern-day physicists from Augustine to Einstein and beyond. Einstein showed that the flow of time is affected by both velocity and gravity, yet he despaired at his failure to explain the meaning of now. Equally puzzling: Why does time flow? Some physicists have given up trying to understand and call the flow of time an illusion, but the eminent experimentalist physicist Richard A. Muller protests. He says physics should explain reality, not deny it.
In Now, Muller does more than poke holes in past ideas; he crafts his own revolutionary theory, one that makes testable predictions. He begins by laying out - with the refreshing clarity that made Physics for Future Presidents so successful - a firm and remarkably clear explanation of the physics building blocks of his theory: relativity, entropy, entanglement, antimatter, and the big bang. With the stage then set, he reveals a startling way forward.
Muller points out that the standard big bang theory explains the ongoing expansion of the universe as the continuous creation of new space. He argues that time is also expanding and that the leading edge of the new time is what we experience as now. This thought-provoking vision has remarkable implications for some of our biggest questions, not only in physics but also in philosophy, including the ongoing debate about the reality of free will. Moreover, his theory is testable. Muller's monumental work will spark major debate about the most fundamental assumptions of our universe and may crack one of physics' longest-standing enigmas.
Includes a PDF of Images from the book.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Critic reviews
"Mind-blowing…[Muller] posits a theory that seems at once plausible and - surprisingly, for a book with equations - one worth not spoiling." (Time)
"[A] concise master class in understanding the essentials of physics." (Lisa Jardine-Wright, Science)
"Muller has taken a remarkably fresh and exciting approach to the analysis of time. With his usual clarity and wit, he proceeds from solidly established principles - each a fascinating story in its own right - but when he gets to the meaning of the flow of time and now, he forges a new path. I expect controversy!" (Saul Perlmutter, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics)
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Physics textbook without the math
- By Victor on 05-13-18
By: Lisa Randall
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The Universe in the Rearview Mirror
- How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality
- By: Dave Goldberg
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A physicist speeds across space, time, and everything in between showing that our elegant universe from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? Is it possible to build a shrink-ray gun? If there is antimatter, can there be antipeople? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Are time and space like a butterfly's wings? No one but Dave Goldberg, the coolest nerd physicist on the planet, could give a hyper-drive tour of the universe like this one.
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Good, but for whom?
- By Michael on 08-31-13
By: Dave Goldberg
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Knocking on Heaven's Door
- How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World
- By: Lisa Randall
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Knocking on Heaven's Door is an exhilarating and accessible overview of these developments and an impassioned argument for the significance of science. There could be no better guide than Lisa Randall.
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Too Political
- By Allan on 12-14-11
By: Lisa Randall
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The World According to Physics
- By: Jim Al-Khalili
- Narrated by: Jim Al-Khalili
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Shining a light on the most profound insights revealed by modern physics, Jim Al-Khalili invites us all to understand what this crucially important science tells us about the universe and the nature of reality itself. Al-Khalili begins by introducing the fundamental concepts of space, time, energy, and matter, and then describes the three pillars of modern physics - quantum theory, relativity, and thermodynamics - showing how all three must come together if we are ever to have a full understanding of reality.
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excellent book
- By Anonymous User on 05-10-21
By: Jim Al-Khalili
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The Unknown Universe
- A New Exploration of Time, Space and Cosmology
- By: Stuart Clark
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On March 21, 2013, the European Space Agency released a map of the afterglow of the big bang. Taking in 440 sextillion kilometers of space and 13.8 billion years of time, it is physically impossible to make a better map: We will never see the early universe in more detail. On the one hand, such a view is the apotheosis of modern cosmology; on the other, it threatens to undermine almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.
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Everything, Absolutely Everything!
- By Gillian on 03-09-17
By: Stuart Clark
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The Physics of Star Trek
- By: Lawrence M. Krauss
- Narrated by: Larry McKeever
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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What actually happens when the words, "beam me up, Scottie" are uttered? What "warps" when something travels at warp speed? Internationally renowned theoretical physicist and educator Lawrence M. Krauss provides matter-of-fact scientific explanations of the physics of Star Trek in this highly creative and informative guide for both the devoted Trekkie and the physics novice.
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Interesting Book. Quite Technical
- By Christopher B. on 12-07-04
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The Quantum Story
- A History in 40 Moments
- By: Jim Baggott
- Narrated by: Mike Pollock
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Utterly beautiful. Profoundly disconcerting. Quantum theory is quite simply the most successful account of the physical universe ever devised. Its concepts underpin much of the 21st-century technology that we now take for granted. But at the same time it has completely undermined our ability to make sense of the world at its most fundamental level.
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who's the target reader?
- By Hannah on 09-17-11
By: Jim Baggott
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Calculating the Cosmos
- How Mathematics Unveils the Universe
- By: Ian Stewart
- Narrated by: Dana Hickox
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In Calculating the Cosmos, Ian Stewart presents an exhilarating guide to the cosmos, from our solar system to the entire universe. He describes the architecture of space and time, dark matter and dark energy, how galaxies form, why stars implode, how everything began, and how it's all going to end. He considers parallel universes, the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life, what forms extraterrestrial life might take, and the likelihood of life on Earth being snuffed out by an asteroid.
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Crank alert: rejects modern cosmology
- By James Weisner on 03-20-17
By: Ian Stewart
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Beyond Biocentrism
- Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death
- By: Robert Lanza, Bob Berman
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
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In Beyond Biocentrism, acclaimed biologist Robert Lanza and astronomer Bob Berman take the listener on an intellectual thrill ride as they reexamine everything we thought we knew about life, death, the universe, and the nature of reality itself. The first step is acknowledging that our existing model of reality is looking increasingly creaky in the face of recent scientific discoveries.
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Here's the thing
- By Mikal on 11-09-18
By: Robert Lanza, and others
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How to Speak Science
- Gravity, Relativity, and Other Ideas That Were Crazy Until Proven Brilliant
- By: Bruce Benamran, Stephanie Delozier Strobel
- Narrated by: Braden Wright
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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As smartphones, supercomputers, supercolliders, and AI propel us into an ever more unfamiliar future, How to Speak Science takes us on a rollicking historical tour of the greatest discoveries and ideas that make today's cutting-edge technologies possible. Wanting everyone to be able to "speak" science, YouTube science guru Bruce Benamran explains - as accessibly and wittily as in his acclaimed videos - the fundamental ideas of the physical world: matter, life, the solar system, light, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, and much more.
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Wowzers!
- By Ralph Temblador on 02-15-21
By: Bruce Benamran, and others
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The Trouble with Physics
- The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
- By: Lee Smolin
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In this illuminating book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that fundamental physics - the search for the laws of nature - is losing its way. Ambitious ideas about extra dimensions, exotic particles, multiple universes, and strings have captured the publics imagination -- and the imagination of experts.
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Strings snipped
- By J B Tipton on 06-06-10
By: Lee Smolin
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The Cosmic Cocktail
- Three Parts Dark Matter
- By: Katherine Freese
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The ordinary atoms that make up the known universe - from our bodies and the air we breathe to the planets and stars - constitute only 5 percent of all matter and energy in the cosmos. The rest is known as dark matter and dark energy, because their precise identities are unknown. The Cosmic Cocktail is the inside story of the epic quest to solve one of the most compelling enigmas of modern science - what is the universe made of? - told by one of today’s foremost pioneers in the study of dark matter.
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I was looking for a book about science....
- By Jeff on 03-27-15
By: Katherine Freese
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To Explain the World
- The Discovery of Modern Science
- By: Steven Weinberg
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries, from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato's Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we understand about the world--they did not understand what there is to understand or how to understand it.
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How the world created a Newton
- By Gary on 03-02-15
By: Steven Weinberg
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What listeners say about Now
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lynn
- 11-24-16
Bewildering, mind blowing, ultimately enlightening
I'm an artist and writer, very right-brained, sadly inept in mathematics and the sciences. Yet I have always been fascinated by Physics. Physics has remained a bewildering foreign language to me. Over the years, I thought if I listened to enough words spoken in the language Physics, I would suddenly understand it. Until this book, my hope has been unfulfilled. However, about half way through this book, my brain experienced an awakening to the notion of symmetry. I can't explain it, but from that moment forward, I understood, haltingly it is true, how and why Physics reveals and predicts the universe and life. I am going to listen to this book from the beginning again and again.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Chris Reich
- 01-14-17
No. Sorry, Just No
I like Richard Muller and love Physics for Future Presidents. He jumps out on a limb in the book but unfortunately fails to make his case.
The best I can say is that he is clever to a point with semantics but really doesn't open the doors to a great, or as he would say, a more correct interpretation of time. Because entropy is a fluid process that cannot define 'now' is no reason to toss entropy as a means of defining time as best we are able. Really, time is fluid and there is no now. Before you can say now, the time has past. There is not frozen moment of time.
The book is interesting but I would not say it's ground breaking.
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7 people found this helpful
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- WMB
- 07-14-21
Extremely informative....
I now understand why we can't travel to the future and why the past cannot be changed. The author assumes that no one would want to travel to an immutable past but just to see it and be there would be better than anything - yes, even set. The person reading did an amazing job - he read with an understanding of the material that could only be exceeded by the author. Great book!
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1 person found this helpful
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- James S.
- 07-30-18
Great insights in real physics; some "metaphysics"
This audible is definitely worth a listen if you want to gain further insights into fundamental physics. The author, who is a highly-cited physicist in his practice, doesn't go super deep into any one topic, and not all critical topics of relevance are covered; but he does give what I consider to be really good, extensive explanations regarding entropy, quantum particles/fields, quantum gravity, etc.
It might fizzle out somewhat in the end; but it's not because of topics irrelevant to physics. He ends up digging further into borderline-metaphysics than most of his intended audience might appreciate, assuming that audience to be science-minded people who only respect falsifiable hypotheses. But eventually physicists will have to explain the borderline physics that he mentions. Besides, he never suggests pursuing any studies that can't be tested and falsified, so it's not "spiritual clap-trap".
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10 people found this helpful
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- xian
- 03-12-19
Excellent and accessible review of modern physics
One of the better popular audience books written by active researchers: Muller includes a lot of relevant detail while keeping the narrative accessible and enjoyable. I enjoyed the historical perspective and liberal use of personal anecdotes. The philosophical sections can drag a bit, but cover important epistemological topics that modern scientists often paper over. Overall, an excellent synthesis with broad scope.
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1 person found this helpful
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- L. J. jacobs
- 10-07-16
No answers
This book goes through a number of scientific areas which are interesting but ends up not delivering the answer to the question of now.
Besides describing time expansion being similar to space expansion, it seemed to me that now is a topic for further study, waiting for someone to come along and figure it out.
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1 person found this helpful
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- CRAIG
- 10-08-16
BEST PHYSICS BOOK I HAVE READ
What did you love best about Now?
A great summary of the history as well as the latest thinking about time and physics. Great
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-04-16
You can stop reading when Muller mentions "the soul."
Pretty decent book save for a few chapters. The book has insight about modern physics and takes into account recent discoveries, such as gravitational waves recorded by LIGO. However, Muller then goes on to talk about the soul and a lot of other unscientific nonsense. It doesn't get better from there.
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3 people found this helpful
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- CJ
- 06-22-19
Presupposes the existence of souls...
Provides some good examples of experimental results is physics, but cherry picks philosophy and almost completely ignores neurophysical /psychological experimental results that refute or at least bring into question the concept of free-will. Clear bias in the western idea of self, soul, and consciousness. Muller does a good job of writing physics ideas in an easily digestible way for the non-physics reader. Also mostly ignores Multiverses or the many worlds hypotheses.
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- Crossroads Pastors
- 10-28-22
Great scientific approach to the challenge of explaining Time.
I have read several reviews that in my opinion, unfairly criticize Muller for his inclusion of the soul and mystical type explanations. However, after listening to this book I find many of those critiques unfair.
Muller does a great job of approaching the challenge of understanding Time with an open-handed approach. As an accomplished experimental scientist, he uses thoughtful and logical arguments to make his points. As with most physicalists, their greatest limitation is self-imposed. They simply don’t allow their “brain” to explore all possibilities. Oddly enough, this is why many scientists never discover new physical realities and why a small few of them do. It’s the ones who allow their mind to conceive of both
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2 people found this helpful