On The Nature And Passage Of Time And 4 D Geometry

PAPERBACK: In his 10th book on post-relativity philosophy of time, the Ghanaian philosopher argues that all the theories we read about time are useful only for constructing clocks to accord accurately with the earth's regular motions and astronomical features. The many bemusing technical terms employed (like duration between events, sidereal time, solar time, nutation, equinox, earth's rotation, the precession of the equinoxes etc.), were all invented to account for fixed, general and absolute time, running all through the cosmos and the same everywhere. This view of time, however, was abolished by Einstein. He adds that everything we have ever used to reckon time (including atomic time) amounts to mere physical cycles, pulses or oscillations that we count as the units of time---the years, for instance---but they are passing. He has also uncovered Einstein's undoubted snub to 4-D geometry.

In this monograph, the Ghanaian philosopher, Samuel K. K. Blankson, takes up the question of time. He argues that time and the application of time are two different things in the mind, but often they are conflated in practice. For example, he says if you want to know the true nature of time you cannot rely on the clock, no matter how it is analysed. Under relativity there is no longer a universal time; therefore how we get our own peculiar earth time to programme into the clock is what you want to know. Also he claims that the merger of space and time in the Minkowski theory of "space-time" is tautology; it is not a new way of giving us our earth time as "space-time." To merge time with space means the time was there already! On the other hand, to argue that there is time already but has now been merged with space is logically untenable---man cannot use mathematics alone to alter natural entities physically.

PaperbackIn 1905, when Albert Einstein introduced a new theory of time as space-time, otherwise known as âlocal timeâ, some philosophers considered it as (probably) his greatest discovery. The reason, evidently, is that time is more important than anything else except life itself. But what, essentially, is it? Einstein did not give us the philosophical interpretation of space-time. That is a task for the philosophers. Samuel K. K. Blankson, the Ghanaian philosopher, gives one of the most lucid and logical interpretations of what Einstein called âtime, pure and simpleâ. The strange and extremely technical phenomenon known as âtime dilationâ, which inspired Einstein to discover his special theory of relativity, is lucidly explained. The reader will find the answer simple and most surprising, and, it is hoped, satisfactory too.

'The coming revolution in physics' is the authors latest monograph expanding his concepts and arguments about the misunderstanding and misuse of time in physics. Blankson argues that since most of us accept that the earth-year is a valid unit of time, we have to accept, also, that time is necessarily discrete, since the year is only one unit of time that has to be repeated for time to continue. Discrete time cannot march, so history is not the march of time but of events. Also discrete time cannot curve, therefore the concept of 'curved space-time' by which time travel is said to be a 'scientific possibility' is false. By discrete time, the Minkowski 4-D geometry cannot reflect physical reality; and since his equation s=ct has sunk deep into physics, the philosopher thinks physics is heading for another revolution in the very near future.

The book is about the post-relativity philosophy of time as championed by Bertrand Russell and Einstein. It argues that The Past, Present and Future notion of time is an illusion. The sun, as daylight, is on constantly with no temporal past and future, except in chemistry perhaps. Only the earth's revolutions bring temporary days and nights. So the Bertrand Russell notion that under relativity man constructs his time is logically unassailable (the days, weeks, months and years are all human concepts.) Relativity allows time to begin from anywhere. So the revolutionary view is that there are or can be as many times as there are frames, or planets---a world-changing idea but true because it is based on objective, physical experiments, but generally ignored.

There are very few concepts that fascinate equally a theoretical physicist studying black holes and a patient undergoing seriolls mental psychosis. Time, undoubtedly, can well be ranked among them. For the measure of time inside a black hole is no less bizarre than the perception of time by a schizophrenic, who may perceive it as completely "suspended," "standing still," or even "reversing its direction. " The nature of time is certainly shrouded in profound mystery. This, perhaps, since the concept entails multifarious, and occasionally incongruous, facets. No wonder the subject attracts the serious attention of scholars on the one hand, and of the lay public on the other. Our Advanced Research Workshop is an excellent il lustration of this point, as the reader will soon discover. It turned out to be a unique professional forum for an unusually lively, effective and fruitful exchange of ideas and beliefs among 48 participants from 20 countries worldwide, selected out of more than a hundred applicants. The present book is based on the select talks presented at the meeting, and aims to provide the interested layperson and specialist alike with a multidisciplinary sampling of the most up-to-date scholarly research on the nature of time. It represents a coherent, state-of-the-art volume showing that research relevant to this topic is necessarily interdisciplinary and does not ignore such delicate issues as "altered" states of consciousness, religion and metaphysics.