'Get that paper out of my porridge, will you? Marjorie, why are the bloody dogs in the kitchen while we're having breakfast?' Three figures in suspended animation stared at him. 'Daddy, look–' 'Damn, watch out!' Renfrew cried.

It was a kind of general sign of good will, he supposed, one of the tricks he could never master. They never wondered why you kept on smiling, no matter what was said. DAVIES The Physics of Time Asymmetry, 1974ĬHAPTER ONE Spring, 1998 Remember to smile a lot, John Renfrew thought moodily. present-day physics makes no provision whatever for a flowing time, or for a moving present moment.

–NEWTON How is it possible to account for the difference between past and future when an examination of the laws of physics reveals only the symmetry of time?. Cambridge August, 1979Ībsolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external. If the reader emerges with the conviction that time represents a fundamental riddle in modern physics, this book will have served its purpose. My aim has been to illuminate some outstanding philosophical difficulties in physics. Others are speculative, and thus may well prove false. Many scientific elements in this novel are true. I am indebted to David and Marilee Samuelson, Charles Brown, Malcolm Edwards, Richard Curlils, Lawrence Lienbert and especially David Hartwell for comments on the manuscript. For editing and work on the final draft I thank Asenath Hammond. Her patience and support, as well as that of my children, Alyson and Mark, were invaluable. Many facets of this work were improved by my wife, Joan Abbe. Cambridge August, 1979ĪCKNOWLEDGMENTS For technical discussions I am indebted to Doctors Riley Newman, David Book and Sidney Coleman. Without her contribution this would be a quite different book. As a native of England and a graduate of Cambridge University, she gave invaluable help in developing and maintaining a consistent British idiom. Certain characters are in part her creation. She contributed significantly to the manuscript, bringing to it her special qualities of interest in people. SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT I wish to acknowledge warmly the contribution made by my sister-in-law, Hilary Foister Benford, to this book.

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