Alan Burdick

“[Why Time Flies] captures us. Because it opens up a well of fascinating queries and gives us a glimpse of what has become an ever more deepening mystery for humans: the nature of time.” —The New York Review of Books “Erudite and informative, a joy with many small treasures.” —Science “Time” is the most commonly used noun in the English language; it’s always on our minds and it advances through every living moment. But what is time, exactly? Do children experience it the same way adults do? Why does it seem to slow down when we’re bored and speed by as we get older? How and why does time fly? In this witty and meditative exploration, award-winning author and New Yorker staff writer Alan Burdick takes readers on a personal quest to understand how time gets in us and why we perceive it the way we do. In the company of scientists, he visits the most accurate clock in the world (which exists only on paper); discovers that “now” actually happened a split-second ago; finds a twenty-fifth hour in the day; lives in the Arctic to lose all sense of time; and, for one fleeting moment in a neuroscientist’s lab, even makes time go backward. Why Time Flies is an instant classic, a vivid and intimate examination of the clocks that tick inside us all.

A Mostly Scientific Investigation

Why Time Flies

In this search for both scientific answers and ecological authenticity, the author tours the front lines of ecological invasion in the company of world-class scientists to explore the disparity between what is nature and what is natural.

An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion

Out of Eden

Porque o Tempo Voa - Uma investigação sobretudo cientifica

Perché siamo più produttivi quando abbiamo molto da fare mentre nei momenti di relax ci pare di non riuscire a combinare niente? Perché ci sembra che la nostra prima storia d’amore sia durata molto più a lungo di quanto sia avvenuto in realtà? Possiamo in qualche modo controllare e plasmare la nostra percezione dello scorrere dei giorni, delle ore, dei secondi? E ancora, che forma ha il tempo? È una retta, come la freccia di Zenone e il suo tragitto impossibile? È un cerchio, come il ciclico calendario dei Maya? O ha il volto dell’astronauta Scott Kelly che, tornato sulla Terra dopo aver passato 520 giorni in orbita, era invecchiato 5 millisecondi in meno rispetto al gemello rimasto a casa? Alan Burdick ci invita a un curioso viaggio nel mondo del tempo: dalle meridiane e dalle clessidre ad acqua dell’antichità all’invenzione del secondo; dall’utc, il Tempo Universale Coordinato, che regola tutti gli orologi del pianeta, alle scoperte sul ritmo circadiano, il nostro naturale orologio interno; dalle teorie di Einstein sulla dilatazione temporale al caso del musicista Clive Wearing che, persa d’improvviso la memoria, si ritrovò a vivere in un eterno presente. Con Perché il tempo vola il Saggiatore propone un’originale riflessione attorno alla dimensione che forse più di tutte influisce sulla nostra vita affettiva e lavorativa. Un percorso che attraversa la fisica, la filosofia e la letteratura, unendo sant’Agostino e Richard Feynman, il «presente specioso» di William James e i viaggi nel futuro di H.G. Wells, gli esperimenti di Michel Siffre – che trascorse più di duecento giorni in un laboratorio isolato sottoterra per indagare la percezione del tempo in condizioni di deprivazione sensoriale – e la lingua pirahã, quasi priva di riferimenti temporali. Per porre domande le cui risposte inevitabilmente aprono ad altri quesiti: perché se c’è una cosa sulla quale abbiamo sempre trovato il tempo di interrogarci è, per l’appunto, il tempo.

e perché la felicità è un lampo e quando ci annoiamo le ore non passano mai

Perché il tempo vola

‘[Why Time Flies] opens up a well of fascinating queries and gives us a glimpse of what has become an ever more deepening mystery for humans: the nature of time.’ New York Times Book Review For more than two thousand years the world’s great minds have argued about the true essence of time. Is it finite or infinite? Is it continuous or discrete? Does it flow like a river or is it granular, proceeding in small bits like sand trickling through an hourglass? And most immediately, what is the present? What is time, exactly? Why does it seem to slow down when we’re bored and speed by as we get older? How and why does time fly? In this witty and meditative exploration, Alan Burdick takes readers on a personal quest to understand how and why we perceive time the way we do. He visits the most accurate clock in the world (which exists only on paper); discovers that ‘now’ actually happened a split-second ago; finds a twenty-fifth hour in the day; lives in the Arctic to lose all sense of time; and, for one fleeting moment in a neuroscientist’s lab, even makes time go backwards. Why Time Flies is a vivid and intimate examination of the clocks that tick inside us all. Alan Burdick is a staff writer at the New Yorker and a frequent contributor to its science-and-tech blog. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, GQ, Discover, Best American Science and Nature Writing. ‘An insightful meditation on the curious nature of time....A highly illuminating intellectual investigation.’ Kirkus Reviews ‘[Burdick] is an engaging writer guided by curiosity.’ Saturday Paper ‘A fascinating premise that we can all relate to...A well-researched volume [with] some fascinating insights.’ AU Review ‘In his lucid, thoughtful, and beautifully written inquiry about time...Burdick offers nothing less than a new way of reconsidering what it means to be human.’ Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life ‘Alan Burdick offers a fascinating and searching account of how we perceive time’s passage. It will change the way you think about the past, and also the present.’ Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction ‘Alan Burdick turns an obsession with the nature of time into a thrilling quest—one that brilliantly illuminates a subject that haunts us all. Time may fly by but at least while reading these pages it is never wasted.’ David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z ‘Brilliant, brain-boggling.’ New Daily ‘To readers of the New Yorker, Burdick’s style is instantly recognisable: informal, informed and indefatigably researched...His wit and humour keep the narrative rolling with wry observations.’ New Zealand Herald ‘Time for Burdick is ultimately an adventure of discovery. His wealth of deeply researched and detailed but humorous stories serves to raise our curiosity...Make time to read his fascinating and illuminating book.’ Toowoomba Chronicle ‘[Burdick] is a lucid and well-informed commentator on scientific matters. Here, he takes us by the wrist and leads us through the maze of time. We could not ask for a better guide.’ Stuff NZ ‘Alan Burdick takes a new, interesting and mindful approach to the topic in an effort to understand what we know about that often intangible concept we call time.’ Australian Geographic

Een verrassende, intrigerende en onderhoudende zoektocht naar wat tijd eigenlijk is en hoe wij tijd ervaren Interessante inzichten en leuke weetjes Waarom lijkt de tijd zo lang te duren als we voor een stoplicht wachten en waarom vliegt hij voorbij als we naar een leuke film kijken? Hoe komt het dat sommige mensen exact weten hoe laat het is als zij midden in de nacht wakker worden? En hoe kan het dat we precies weten hoe hard we moeten lopen om de trein te halen? Tijd: we leven er middenin maar het blijft een raadsel. In zijn bij vlagen geestige maar altijd heldere en onderhoudende betoog gaat Alan Burdick op een persoonlijk onderzoek uit naar wat tijd eigenlijk is en hoe wij tijd ervaren. Voor zijn zoektocht spreekt hij met wetenschappers, gaat hij te rade bij filosofen, bezoekt hij onder andere de meest accurate klok ter wereld, en reist hij naar Alaska om te ervaren hoe het is wanneer het nooit donker wordt. Het fenomeen tijd wordt naarmate het boek vordert steeds intrigerender. Als lezer wil je er steeds meer over weten en gelukkig verrast Burdick je telkens weer met nieuwe feiten en inzichten. De pers over Waarom de tijd vliegt ‘Een fascinerend betoog. Je zult anders naar het verleden én het heden kijken.’ Elizabeth Kolbert, auteur van Het zesde uitsterven ‘Ik ben helemaal ondersteboven van dit boek.’ Charles Duhigg, auteur van Macht der gewoonte ‘Helder, intelligent en prachtig geschreven.’ Hanya Yanagihara, auteur van Een klein leven

Alan Burdick

About

Books

Join the club