Caveat:
Before reading Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe by J. Richard Gott, the reader should be aware that much of the science presented within this book is highly speculative. Currently physicists disagree about the possibility of the various methods of time travel presented by Gott. However, all of the ideas that Gott chooses to present have been embraced by at least a few experts in the field. Some of the theories presented are currently taken as fact, but not many.

J. Richard Gott is a well known and highly respected physicist. He currently works as a professor of Astrophysics at Princeton University. He has won many awards, and been published in such notable publications as Nature, Scientific American Time, and American Scientist.

Mr. Gott employs a natural, easy writing style to guide the reader simply through concepts that are difficult, and often highly abstract. He is able to make if the most technical details of science readily digestible by the common reader. This is the singular achievement of his book. Even someone with little science education will, upon finishing this tome, feel at home in discussions concerning the basics of Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and String Theory.

Gott employs discussions of time travel in literature and film to illustrate his points. He uses H.G. Well’s The Time Machine, as well as a story by Robert Heinlein. He also talks about such diverse films as Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Somewhere in Time, and Back to the Future. These illustrations are entertaining, and become useful in Gott’s hands.

Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe looks at all the ways time travel may be achieved. One should understand at the outset, that we are all traveling in time. We move forward in time at the rate of one second per second. This is, of course, a one way trip.

Gott reminds us that it is possible to travel forward in time more quickly. This can be done simply by traveling at a higher velocity. As one’s speed approaches that of light, time slows. Thus, if we were to travel away from earth at 80% of the speed of light for one year, then return to earth at the same speed, we will find that we have aged two years. However, those we left behind will be considerably older. We will have traveled into the future. This is also, unfortunately, a one way trip.

Gott spends considerable space detailing ways in which travel to the past may be possible. These methods use things like gravity wells, black holes, worm holes, and cosmic strings (not to be confused with “super strings”, of super string theory). Most of these methods involve using space-time “short cuts”, which allow one to (in a manner of speaking) travel faster than the speed of light.

Gott also discuses paradoxes that could be caused by time travel into the past, but finds arguments to defeat them as problems for his view.

Many physicists (Stephen Hawking, for instance) believe that these methods are patently impossible. They claim that Relativity’s upper speed limit (that of light in a vacuum) is inviolable. Others, however, disagree. Gott is joined in his ideas by such notables as Kip Thorne.

Gott ends his book with a bit of prediction about the future. He employs the Copernican principle (no observers particular place in space, or time, is special) to develop a method for predicting the longevity of things. His method is quite accurate (within a large range: it doesn’t supply exact dates, but merely approximate ranges that can span from days to millions of years) and interesting.

Gott’s book is not the only one out there to deal with this subject. Hundreds of books have tackled these possibilities. Kip Thorne has written at least two. Stephen Hawking has touched on the subject in his writings. However, Gott’s book may be the most enjoyable read of all of them.

I recommend this book, as long as the reader does not take all of Gott’s suggestions as fact. One must heed the caveat with which this review begins.


Recommended: Yes