Barbour si è mantenuto e ha mantenuto la sua famiglia senza una posizione accademica, lavorando part-time come traduttore da quando ha conseguito il dottorato nei fondamenti della teoria generale della relatività di Einstein. I suoi interessi di ricerca riguardano la gravità quantistica e la storia della scienza.
A brilliant theoretical physicist argues that the solution to the ultimate question in science: how to unify Einstein's theory of general relativity with quantum mechanics, is possible only if we abolish time from the foundations of the universe. In other words, despite our deepest intuitions, time does not exist. schovat popis
What is time? The Janus Point offers a ground-breaking solution to one of the greatest mysteries in physics. For over a century, the greatest minds have sought to understand why time seems to flow in one direction, ever forward. In The Janus Point, Julian Barbour offers a radically new answer: it doesn't. At the heart of this book, Barbour provides a new vision of the Big Bang - the Janus Point - from which time flows in two directions, its currents driven by the expansion of the universe and the growth of order in the galaxies, planets and life itself. What emerges is not just a revolutionary new theory of time, but a hopeful argument about the destiny of our universe. 'Both a work of literature and a masterpiece of scientific thought' Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble with Physics 'Profound...original...accessible to anyone who has pondered the mysteries of space and time' Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal 'Takes on fundamental questions, offering a new perspective on how the Universe started and where it may be headed' Science Magazine
Provides basic evidence for the nonexistence of time, explaining what a timeless universe is like and showing how the nonexistence of time solves a great paradox of modern science.