Time: The Dream of Killing Chronos

What is time? Does it exist? Can it be stopped? Can time’s arrow be reversed? Can we ever free ourselves from the seemingly inexorable flow of time?Chrónos is a mystery, and not only for us: it was a mystery for our distant ancestors too. In this book Guido Tonelli guides us along the path to understanding a reality that is very different from what we believe it to be.Modern science allows us to explore the deepest recesses of the universe and when we observe the giant objects which inhabit the cosmos over great distances - galaxies and clusters of galaxies - time acquires characteristics which are very different from those that we are used to.The same happens when we analyse the phenomena which occur on a sub-nuclear scale.In these two worlds which are so far apart from one other, the harmonious and constant flow of time which has enchanted us for millennia twists, melts and shatters.Space and time appear as an indissoluble couple - not some abstract concept but a material substance w