Time Travel by Paul J Nahin

Time Travel by Paul J Nahin

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.

Paul Nahin was born in California, and did all of his schooling there (Brea-Olinda High 1958, Stanford BS 1962, Caltech MS 1963 and - as a Howard Hughes Staff Doctoral Fellow - UC/Irvine PhD 1972, with all degrees in electrical engineering). He has taught at Harvey Mudd College, the Naval Postgraduate School and the Universities of New Hampshire (where he is now emeritus professor of electrical engineering) and Virginia.

Prof. Nahin has published a couple of dozen short science fiction stories in ANALOG, OMNI and TWILIGHT ZONE magazines, and has written 19 books on mathematics and physics for scientifically-minded and popular audiences alike. He has given invited talks on mathematics at Bowdoin College, the Claremont Graduate School, the University of Tennessee and Caltech, has appeared on National Public Radio's Science Friday show (discussing time travel) as well as on New Hampshire Public Radio's The Front Porch show (discussing imaginary numbers) and advised Boston's WGBH Public Television's Nova program on the script for their time travel episode. He gave the invited Sampson Lectures for 2011 in Mathematics at Bates College (Lewiston, Maine).

Also By Paul J. Nahin
Oliver Heaviside, Time Machines, The Science of Radio, An Imaginary Tale, Duelling Idiots, When Least Is Best, Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula, Chases and Escapes, Digital Dice, Mrs. Perkins's Electric Quilt, Time Travel, Number-Crunching, The Logician and the Engineer, Will You Be Alive Ten Years From Now?, Holy Sci-Fi!, Inside Interesting Integrals, In Praise of Simple Physics, Time Machine Tales, and Mathematical Physics