- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press; illustrated edition edition (19 Oct 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 156858363X
- ISBN-13: 978-1568583631
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 12.6 x 1.6 cm
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
964,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #57 in Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Physics > Relativity Physics
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Product Description
Product Description
This is the dramatic and inspirational first-person story of theoretical physicist, Dr. Ronald Mallett, who recently discovered the basic equations for a working time machine that he believes can be used as a transport vehicle to the past. Combining elements of Rocket Boys and Elegant Universe, Time Traveler follows Mallett's discovery of Einstein's work on space-time, his study of Godel's work on a solution of Einstein's equation that might allow for time travel, and his own research in theoretical physics spanning thirty years that culminated in his recent discovery of the effects of circulating laser light and its application to time travel. The foundation for Mallett's historic time-travel work is Einstein's theory of general relativity, a sound platform for any physicist. Through his years of reading and studying Einstein, Mallett became a buff well before he had any notion of the importance of the grand old relativist's theories to his own career. One interesting subtext to the story is Mallett's identification with, and keen interest in, Einstein. Mallett provides easy-to-understand explanations of the famous physicist's seminal work.
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43 reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Breaking the time barrier...
26 Mar 2007
Format:Hardcover
"The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety can lure it back nor your tears wash out a word of it." Jon Donne.
If Prof. Ron Mallett has his way, the words of Jon Donne will be a quaint aphorism that people used to say. The reason Mallett says this is because he believes that the time barrier can be broken and that -- someday -- people will have the technology to travel into the past.
Almost immediately on announcing his speculations, Mallett became the topic of intense media interest including a Learning Channel special and great media coverage. And this is rightly so because the back story of Mallett's motivation -- so ably told in this book -- is itself so compelling.
In 1955, while still a child, Ron Mallett lost his father who died of heart failure at the age of 33. Loving his Dad as intensely as he did, Mallett began to dream of breaking the time barrier to rejoin his father just to tell him "I love you."
Just as everyone can easily connect with Mallett's motivation, mostly everyone will find themselves somewhat befuddled by the science behind Mallett's speculations. This isn't because he doesn't do a good job of explaining himself, but rather simply because scientific explanations typically tend to tax comprehension.
That being said, his theory is an ingenious one: that just as gravity can used to distort time, so can concentrated light. In this way, Mallett must now consider it the sweetest serendipity that he worked in the private sector with lasers for a formative part of his early career. In this way, he became immediately acquianted with the very device he intends to employ in his time travel device.
The typical time travel scenerios that have been set out involve a radical twisting of space. If we were bugs living on a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper, our travel from one end of the sheet to the other would be greatly speeded if we could somehow get the paper from the ends to connect with each other. And indeed, this is what the tradition theories of time travel all propose: that somehow -- whether it's through cosmic strings as speculated by J Richard Gott or black holes as speculated by Kip Thorne -- a force so great is created that space is litterally forced to warp back on itself.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Mallett's theories will probably face the same fate at those of Gott and Thorne respecting time travel by people into the past...failure. However, having opened by quoting Donne, it's perhaps best to close by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said:
"Pity not those who have failed but those who live in that grey twilight that knows neither success nor failure."
By dint of genius, Mallett -- ultimately successful or not -- has irrevocably taken himself out of that "grey twilight" and us with him...if only in our hearts and imaginations.
If Prof. Ron Mallett has his way, the words of Jon Donne will be a quaint aphorism that people used to say. The reason Mallett says this is because he believes that the time barrier can be broken and that -- someday -- people will have the technology to travel into the past.
Almost immediately on announcing his speculations, Mallett became the topic of intense media interest including a Learning Channel special and great media coverage. And this is rightly so because the back story of Mallett's motivation -- so ably told in this book -- is itself so compelling.
In 1955, while still a child, Ron Mallett lost his father who died of heart failure at the age of 33. Loving his Dad as intensely as he did, Mallett began to dream of breaking the time barrier to rejoin his father just to tell him "I love you."
Just as everyone can easily connect with Mallett's motivation, mostly everyone will find themselves somewhat befuddled by the science behind Mallett's speculations. This isn't because he doesn't do a good job of explaining himself, but rather simply because scientific explanations typically tend to tax comprehension.
That being said, his theory is an ingenious one: that just as gravity can used to distort time, so can concentrated light. In this way, Mallett must now consider it the sweetest serendipity that he worked in the private sector with lasers for a formative part of his early career. In this way, he became immediately acquianted with the very device he intends to employ in his time travel device.
The typical time travel scenerios that have been set out involve a radical twisting of space. If we were bugs living on a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper, our travel from one end of the sheet to the other would be greatly speeded if we could somehow get the paper from the ends to connect with each other. And indeed, this is what the tradition theories of time travel all propose: that somehow -- whether it's through cosmic strings as speculated by J Richard Gott or black holes as speculated by Kip Thorne -- a force so great is created that space is litterally forced to warp back on itself.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Mallett's theories will probably face the same fate at those of Gott and Thorne respecting time travel by people into the past...failure. However, having opened by quoting Donne, it's perhaps best to close by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said:
"Pity not those who have failed but those who live in that grey twilight that knows neither success nor failure."
By dint of genius, Mallett -- ultimately successful or not -- has irrevocably taken himself out of that "grey twilight" and us with him...if only in our hearts and imaginations.
33 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Elegant Scientific Insights
14 Nov 2006
Format:Hardcover
Dr. Mallett must be an extraordinary teacher. While the other reviewers are correct that his personal history is deeply compelling, the scientific insights that he explains in chapters 11 and 12 are breathtaking in their elegance. Dr. Mallett's theory is the complement to the 1919 verification by Arthur Eddington of Eistein's prediction regarding the deflection of light rays by the curved space around the sun. Dr. Mallett's insight is that Einstein's theory shows that light, which does not have mass, has energy and that energy could also produce a gravitational field. If that gravitational field twists space, then time gets twisted. Eddington showed that strong gravity bends light, then Dr. Mallett theorizes that intense light should affect gravity. Beautiful symmnetry. With the recent advent of small, relatively inexpensive femto-second lasers with power outputs in terawatts, Dr Mallett's hypothesis should be testable very soon. Good luck Dr. Mallett, your father has truly reached across time.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Touching, interesting, inspirational, but a little dry.
11 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover
I heard Ronald Mallett on George Norry's show, and I thought he was fascinating. I ordered the book that night. I finally got a chance to read it. The book covers Mallett's life from childhood to present. It is a study of a man's life, how his beliefs and opinions were formed, and how his studies led him to his theories on time travel.
Although I found the book very touching in soma parts (I have a son myself), as well as very interesting, I did find a drawback that kept this from being a 5-star book; the science. Mallett goes into some deep scientific discussions when he explains certain facts and theories of physics. This is pretty basis stuff, but for the laymen, well, it's easy to get bogged down in it. I guess he felt that it was necessary to include his reasoning and his explanations for all of these things, but I thought that they ultimately took away from the overall enjoyment of the book.
Still, the book was a good read. It's fairly easy to get through it in a few nights of reading. I hope to hear Dr. Mallett on the George Norry show again, as I think he's a very interesting and inspirational guy. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of time travel. Mallett gives some pretty compelling evidence, and it's cool stuff. Just be prepared to skip a paragraph or two when it becomes a dry physics lesson.
Although I found the book very touching in soma parts (I have a son myself), as well as very interesting, I did find a drawback that kept this from being a 5-star book; the science. Mallett goes into some deep scientific discussions when he explains certain facts and theories of physics. This is pretty basis stuff, but for the laymen, well, it's easy to get bogged down in it. I guess he felt that it was necessary to include his reasoning and his explanations for all of these things, but I thought that they ultimately took away from the overall enjoyment of the book.
Still, the book was a good read. It's fairly easy to get through it in a few nights of reading. I hope to hear Dr. Mallett on the George Norry show again, as I think he's a very interesting and inspirational guy. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of time travel. Mallett gives some pretty compelling evidence, and it's cool stuff. Just be prepared to skip a paragraph or two when it becomes a dry physics lesson.
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