Time Travel
eBook - ePub

Time Travel

A Writer's Guide to the Real Science of Plausible Time Travel

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Time Travel

A Writer's Guide to the Real Science of Plausible Time Travel

About this book

From H.G. Wells to Isaac Asimov to Ursula K. Le Guin, time travel has long been a favorite topic and plot device in tales of science fiction and fantasy. But as any true SF fan knows, astounding stories about traversing alternate universes and swimming the tides of time demand plausible science. That's just what Paul J. Nahin's guide provides.

An engineer, physicist, and published science fiction writer, Nahin is uniquely qualified to explain the ins and outs of how to spin such complex theories as worm holes, singularity, and relativity into scientifically sound fiction. First published in 1997, this fast-paced book discusses the common and not-so-common time-travel devices science fiction writers have used over the years, assesses which would theoretically work and which would not, and provides scientific insight inventive authors can use to find their own way forward or backward in time. From hyperspace and faster-than-light travel to causal loops and the uncertainty principle and beyond, Nahin's equation-free romp across time will help writers send their characters to the past or future in an entertaining, logical, and scientific way.

If you ever wanted to set up the latest and greatest grandfather paradox—or just wanted to know if the time-bending events in the latest pulp you read could ever happen—then this book is for you.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Time Travel by Paul J. Nahin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literary Criticism in Science Fiction. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Introduction
  9. CHAPTER 1 Time Travel in the Pulps
  10. CHAPTER 2 Special Relativity and Time Travel to the Future
  11. CHAPTER 3 Time Travel to the Past
  12. CHAPTER 4 Hyperspace
  13. CHAPTER 5 Time as the Fourth Dimension
  14. CHAPTER 6 The Block Universe
  15. CHAPTER 7 When General Relativity Made Time Travel Honest
  16. CHAPTER 8 Paradoxes: Changing the Past, Causal Loops, and Sex
  17. CHAPTER 9 Time Machines that Physicists Have Already ‘Invented’
  18. CHAPTER 10 Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Into the Past
  19. CHAPTER 11 Quantum Gravity, Splitting Universes, and Time Machines
  20. CHAPTER 12 Reading the Physics Literature for Story Ideas
  21. Glossary of Selected Terms and Concepts
  22. Bibliography
  23. Index