title: Now: The Physics of Time
author:  Richard A. Muller 
description: <strong><a href="//www.amazon.com/b/?node=390919011">An Amazon Best Book of September 2016:</a></strong> Are you ready to have your mind blown? The topic of time and the theory of relativity sounds, well, merely theoretical until you realize upon reading <em>Now</em> that our GPS satellites have to compensate for time dilation constantlyotherwise theyd send us a location thats inaccurate by almost a mile and a half. Mullers enthusiasm for physics propels the reader through complex ideas such as space-time, entropy, the flexibility of space, lightspeed loopholes, and his dislike of string theory. Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and <em>Terminator</em> references sit side by side with equations such as Entropy = <em>k</em> log <em>W</em>but dont let that alarm you. The best nonfiction books expand your knowledge, and <em>Now</em> takes that effort one step further by expanding how you actually think about so-called reality. Mullers love of physics will charm even those who want nothing to do with the subject, and even more engaging is his humility about the extent of our current understanding of how the universe works: I think we can take joy in the speculation that we are not running out of important things to discover. With <em>Now</em>, readers will find plenty that will expand their brains and prepare them for that next amazing discovery. <em>--Adrian Liang, The Amazon Book Review</em>
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  ![](quest-1.jpg)![](quest-2.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  **Quest for the
  
  
  Future**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A. E. Van Vogt
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Scanned & Proofed By MadMaxAU
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  **PROLOGUE**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Time is the great unvariant, but the
  
  
  unvariance is no simple relation. Time is here where you are. It is never the
  
  
  same elsewhere. A starbeam penetrates the atmosphere. It brings a picture from
  
  
  seven hundred thousand years in the past. An electron makes a path of light
  
  
  across a cloud chamber. It brings a picture from fifty, a hundred, or more,
  
  
  years in the future. The stars, the world of the finitely large, are always in
  
  
  the past. The world of the immensely, but still finitely, small is always in
  
  
  the future.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is the rigor
  
  
  of the universe. This is the secret of time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **I**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The hundred delegates to the electronic
  
  
  manufactu