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Time Travel: A Writer's Guide to the Real Science of Plausible Time Travel
 
 
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Time Travel: A Writer's Guide to the Real Science of Plausible Time Travel [Paperback]

Paul J. Nahin
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (7 Feb 2011)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1421400820
  • ISBN-13: 978-1421400822
  • Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.4 x 22.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 223,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Paul J. Nahin
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Product Description

Review

An exciting read covering every aspect of time travel.

(David Reneke Australasian Science Magazine 2011)

If you want to get a gut understanding of time’s riddles, there is no better book than this. Nahin knows well the dance between science and literature as it illuminates time’s mysteries. Don’t try to write time travel fiction without him!

(Gregory Benford, author of Timescape )

Product Description

From H.G. Wells to Isaac Asimov to Ursula K. Le Guin, time travel has long been a favorite topic and plot device in tales of science fiction and fantasy. But as any true SF fan knows, astounding stories about traversing alternate universes and swimming the tides of time demand plausible science. That’s just what Paul J. Nahin’s guide provides.

An engineer, physicist, and published science fiction writer, Nahin is uniquely qualified to explain the ins and outs of how to spin such complex theories as worm holes, singularity, and relativity into scientifically sound fiction. First published in 1997, this fast-paced book discusses the common and not-so-common time-travel devices science fiction writers have used over the years, assesses which would theoretically work and which would not, and provides scientific insight inventive authors can use to find their own way forward or backward in time. From hyperspace and faster-than-light travel to causal loops and the uncertainty principle and beyond, Nahin’s equation-free romp across time will help writers send their characters to the past or future in an entertaining, logical, and scientific way.

If you ever wanted to set up the latest and greatest grandfather paradox—or just wanted to know if the time-bending events in the latest pulp you read could ever happen—then this book is for you.


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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Read this book! 5 April 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Before you read this book, when someone tells you, "Time travel is not real," you will agree. After you read this book, when someone tells you, "Time travel is not real," you will object strongly and start explaining to them all of the REAL laws of time travel and the REAL concept of time travel. If you are a science fiction writer, I STRONGLY suggest that you read this so that you story will not be a heap of junk in a garbage can. You will learn many, many, things such as the REAL science of hyperspace, which is the possible fifth dimension,(the fifth dimension is not simply something that someone made up) and the REAL science of wormholes. This book will thoroughly educate you on the real idea of time travel.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
If you're writing a sci-fi novel, then you need to be authentic. If you're writing a time travel story, how can you be? Read this book. Taking the popular theories of some of the biggest names in physics, this book tells you all the technical lingo you need to sound like you know what you're doing. While this book sometimes gets too bogged down with tech-talk, it's still interesting reading.
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Amazon.com:  10 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A MUST-READ for anyone interested in real time travel! 7 Jun 2002
By Phillip A. Sousa - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I'm a layman when it comes to science, but I was interested in the theories of the reality of time travel. I tried another book (that will remain nameless) which didn't work at all for me. It was just way over my head. This one's great! It's got all of the same kind of information that the first one had, but Nahin is so much more understandable and gets his points across in a much more organized way.

He's literally writing for the lay person here-- the book is intended for writers who would like write science fiction, but want to be scientifically updated on the scientifically possible realities of time travel (both to the past and to the future), teleportation (through wormholes, bending of the 4 dimensions, etc.), the special and general theories of relativity and more. His premise is that science fiction could get away with anything even 50 years ago, when most people and most scientists thought time travel to be impossible, but nowadays, you have to be scientifically sound if you don't want to be laughed out of the literary world. True Sci-fi readers will know if you're legit or not, so Nahin is educating them.

I'm not a writer, but because of the nature of his premise, the book is extremely clear and thus much more informative than the first one ever was. This book even answers questions that I was high-and-dry on before (after reading the first book I picked up). Some of the math may be over the layman's head (some of it's over mine!) and more than you care to know, but he includes a lot of thought-provoking information about the paradoxes of time travel and explains things in pictures very well. He colors his book with quotes and anecdotes from all kinds of works of science fiction and from scientists in the past to make the book fun (and sometimes humorous!).

It's a must-read for anyone interested in the possibilities of time travel and a must-MUST-read for anyone interested in writing a book on anything scientific.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Taking the "fiction" out of SF 31 Jan 2001
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
So, you think you'd like to write a story about time travel? If you think it's as easy as writing a fairy tale, read this book. Surprisingly, the theory of time travel lies well within the laws of physics. In this book, Paul J. Nahin explains the basics, the possibilities, the paradoxes, and best of all, common mistakes science fiction writers make when plotting literary courses through time.

Unless you want to leave your editors laughing at your lack of research, read this book. Base your story as much in real science as you can. Also, check out Nahin's Time Machines, for more information.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Read this book! 5 April 1999
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Before you read this book, when someone tells you, "Time travel is not real," you will agree. After you read this book, when someone tells you, "Time travel is not real," you will object strongly and start explaining to them all of the REAL laws of time travel and the REAL concept of time travel. If you are a science fiction writer, I STRONGLY suggest that you read this so that you story will not be a heap of junk in a garbage can. You will learn many, many, things such as the REAL science of hyperspace, which is the possible fifth dimension,(the fifth dimension is not simply something that someone made up) and the REAL science of wormholes. This book will thoroughly educate you on the real idea of time travel.
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