Time's Arrows Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical Work on the Direction of Time

ISBN-13: 9780521599450 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 348 str.

Steven F. Savitt

Opis

While it may seem indisputable that time flows in a linear fashion (from past to future), there are a number of philosophical and physical objections to this notion. In the quest to make sense of this conundrum, philosophers and physicists confront fascinating and irresistible questions such as whether effects can precede causes, and whether one can travel in time. In this book, eleven eminent scholars who stand at the boundary between physics and philosophy attempt to answer these questions. There are chapters by W. Unruh and H. Price on cosmology; A. Leggett, P. Stamp, and S. McCall on quantum theory; M. Barrett, E. Sober, and L. Sklar on thermodynamics, and P. Horwich and J. Earman on time travel. The book will be enjoyed by anyone of a speculative turn of mind fascinated by the puzzle of time.

Recenzje

'I heartily recommend this collection to anyone, philosopher or scientist interested in the direction of time. Many of the papers make significant contributions to the field, and I found almost all of them quite interesting, I am confident this book will emerge as a standard text in the philosophy of time.' Craig Callender, Canadian Philosophical Reviews

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. Cosmology and Time's Arrow: 1. Time, gravity, and quantum mechanics W. Unruh; 2. Cosmology, time's arrow, and that old double standard H. Price; Part II. Quantum Theory and Time's Arrow: 3. Time's arrow and the quantum measurement problem A. Leggett; 4. Time, decoherence, and 'reversible' measurements P. Stamp; 5. Time flows, non-locality, and measurement in quantum mechanics S. McCall; 6. Stochastically branching spacetime topology R. Douglas; Part III. Thermodynamics and Time's Arrow: 7. The elusive object of desire: in pursuit of the kinetic equations and the second law L. Sklar; 8. Time in experience and in theoretical description of the world L. Sklar; 9. When and why does entropy increase? M. Barrett and E. Sober; Part IV. Time Travel and Time's Arrow: 10. Closed causal chains P Horwich; 11. Recent work on time travel J. Earman.