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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Janus Point

Janus Point

Barbour, Julian

Hardcover

Physics

ISBN10: 0465095461
ISBN13: 9780465095469
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: Dec 1 2020
Pages: 400
Weight: 1.30
Height: 1.50 Width: 5.70 Depth: 9.40
Language: English
In a universe filled by chaos and disorder, one physicist makes the radical argument that the growth of order drives the passage of time--and shapes the destiny of the universe.

Time is among the universe's greatest mysteries. Why, when most laws of physics allow for it to flow forward and backward, does it only go forward?

Physicists have long appealed to the second law of thermodynamics, held to predict the increase of disorder in the universe, to explain this. In The Janus Point, physicist Julian Barbour argues that the second law has been misapplied and that the growth of order determines how we experience time. In his view, the Big Bang becomes the Janus Point, a moment of minimal order from which time could flow, and order increase, in two directions.

The Janus Point has remarkable implications: while most physicists predict that the universe will become mired in disorder, Barbour sees the possibility that order--the stuff of life--can grow without bound.

A major new work of physics, The Janus Point will transform our understanding of the nature of existence.

[Barbour]'s provocative theory offers an optimistic view of our cosmic destiny ... An engaging and inspiring read. ―Matthew Johnson, Science Magazine

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