Einstein’s Dreams
The Book
Relativity for Dummies
or
Why I wish I had Alan Lightman for
Physics
Man v. Myth
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How does the young
Einstein of Einstein’s
Dreams differ from
your preconceptions
of Einstein? Who is
the Einstein of the
book?
Two Levels of Einstein’s Dreams
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“The first level contains many elements of science fiction. It asks
questions like "What if time were circular and known to be so?" or
"What if causality did not exist?" Picky readers looking only at this
aspect will find the book to be rather uneven and strained. For
example, a world with no time has been described with a series of
evocative and frozen images of people and things, such as "A cat
watching a bug on the window.". But a world without time could not
have reached this state. Rather the worlds that Lightman described
have reached some state, approximately something that we would
recognize, and then have had this new time condition imposed upon
them. But, these exceptions aside, the internal logic of each world
can be very thought provoking.”
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Idris Hsi
Physics and Humanity
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“A deeper reading reveals a very carefully
crafted and fascinating picture of
humanity. Within each world live people
who make decisions and choices based on
how they perceive time. For example, the
people living in a world about to run out of
time, seize all the moments they can and
abandon restraint and, it seems, bitterness
and ambition. They dance naked through
the fountains, fulfill fantasies that were
unrequited, and express their love for family
and friends before the final
moment. Lightman provides us with a subtle
reminder that our mortality, bound
inextricably to the finite time allotted to us as
a species, influences our little decisions, life
paths, and philosophies. Almost every world
describes a person or a class of people that
we encounter in our daily lives. In seeing
how and why these fictional people act, we
can't help but to examine our own behaviors
in our "real" world. “
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Idris Hsi
And at the place where time stands still,
one sees lovers kissing
in the shadows of buildings,
in a frozen embrace
that will never let go.
Time Is Running Out
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The world will end tomorrow.
What will you do today?
Reflect
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A world in which time is absolute is a world of consolation.
Each time is true, but the truths are not the same.
Scientists are buffoons, not because they are rational but because
the cosmos is irrational….In this world, artists are joyous.
…in this world, the texture of time happens to be sticky….So too,
individual people become stuck in some point of their lives and do
not get free.
Without memory, each night is the first night, each morning is the
first morning, each kiss and touch are first.
In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong.
For the children, time moves too slowly already….For the elderly,
time darts by much too quickly.
What is your favorite time?
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Exiles in Time (16 April, 1905)
For if he makes the slightest alteration in anything, he may destroy the future.
Tempus Fugit (26 April, 1905)
They celebrate their youth in their mirrors and walk naked on their balconies.
Instruments of Time (28 April, 1905)
Those of religious faith see time as the evidence of God.
The End of Time (8 May, 1905)
But what is there to fear now?
Time Stands Still (14 May 1905)
They would rather have an eternity of contentment, even if that eternity were
fixed and frozen like a butterfly mounted in a case.
Tempus Incognitum (20 May, 1905)
A world without memory is a world of the present.
Tempus Eternum (9 June, 1905)
Such is the cost of immortality. No person is whole. No person is free.
Temple of Time (18 June, 1905)
They must watch measured that which should not be measured.
Could these be chapters in
Einstein’s Dreams?
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Groundhog Day
Back to the Future
It’s a Wonderful Life
50 First Dates
The Butterfly Effect
The Simpsons - Butterfly Effect