Why time flies - Kirjakasa

No cover — Alan Burdick: Why time flies (2017)

301 pages

English language

Published Dec. 29, 2017

ISBN:: 978-1-4165-4027-4
OCLC Number:: 951465449

(1 review)

""Time" is the most commonly used noun in the English language; it's always on our minds and it advances through every living moment. But what is time, exactly? Do children experience it the same way adults do? Why does it seem to slow down when we're bored and speed by as we get older? How and why does time fly? In this witty and meditative exploration, award-winning author and New Yorker staff writer Alan Burdick takes readers on a personal quest to understand how time gets in us and why we perceive it the way we do. In the company of scientists, he visits the most accurate clock in the world (which exists only on paper); discovers that "now" actually happened a split-second ago; finds a twenty-fifth hour in the day; lives in the Arctic to lose all sense of time; and, for one fleeting moment in a neuroscientist's lab, …

""Time" is the most commonly used noun in the English language; it's always on our minds and it advances through every living moment. But what is time, exactly? Do children experience it the same way adults do? Why does it seem to slow down when we're bored and speed by as we get older? How and why does time fly? In this witty and meditative exploration, award-winning author and New Yorker staff writer Alan Burdick takes readers on a personal quest to understand how time gets in us and why we perceive it the way we do. In the company of scientists, he visits the most accurate clock in the world (which exists only on paper); discovers that "now" actually happened a split-second ago; finds a twenty-fifth hour in the day; lives in the Arctic to lose all sense of time; and, for one fleeting moment in a neuroscientist's lab, even makes time go backward. Why Time Flies is an instant classic, a vivid and intimate examination of the clocks that tick inside us all,"--Amazon.com.

1 edition

Thom reviewed Why time flies by Alan Burdick

Review of 'Why time flies' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A very personal, somewhat scattered investigation into biological time. There was much I learned from this volume, and the author examined the question of "why does time fly" from several angles. His conclusion, in a simple answer - it really doesn't.

Alan Burdick is the father of twins, and this book was his labor for many of their early years. He weaves anecdotes about them, his father's watch, and sleepless early mornings into the scientific examinations. These latter are not too technical, but be prepared for basal ganglia and cyanobacteria.

In a way, this book is also a travelogue. The author travels to meet various scientists, clock keepers and chronological notables. He also participates in experiments related to time and time sense. The detail of those experiments was the most fascinating part for me - I have heard of only a few of the tests detailed in this book before. …

A very personal, somewhat scattered investigation into biological time. There was much I learned from this volume, and the author examined the question of "why does time fly" from several angles. His conclusion, in a simple answer - it really doesn't.

Alan Burdick is the father of twins, and this book was his labor for many of their early years. He weaves anecdotes about them, his father's watch, and sleepless early mornings into the scientific examinations. These latter are not too technical, but be prepared for basal ganglia and cyanobacteria.

In a way, this book is also a travelogue. The author travels to meet various scientists, clock keepers and chronological notables. He also participates in experiments related to time and time sense. The detail of those experiments was the most fascinating part for me - I have heard of only a few of the tests detailed in this book before.

This work lives up to the subtitle, "A mostly scientific investigation". I found it a great introduction, and plan to read more from some of the scientists he mentions here. Reading this book was one instance of time well spent.

Subjects

Time measurements
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