'Time Travel: A History' By James Gleick Review: How The Idea Of Time Travel Shaped Society

Time travel is a staple concept of many forms of storytelling that are interesting and exciting. The book "Time Travel: A History," written by James Gleick is searching how the idea of time travel emerged, gripped our imaginations and shaped our society.

"Time Travel: A History" was published on Sept. 27, 2016. Gleick believes that the idea of time traveling started from the 1895 HG Well's novel "The Time Machine," The Guardian reported. Gleick studied literary criticism, philosophy, physics and cultural observation of time traveling.

"Time Travel: A History" discusses the metaphorical forms of time traveling like time capsules, which Gleick describes as a "tragicomic time machine" that "lacks an engine, goes nowhere, sits and waits." Gleick also discusses Albert Einstein's equation of relativity that shows a solution in which time travel appeared to be possible, although no one yet knows exactly how.

Gleick seems to not dwell on the scientific work about the time traveling. He is convinced that no physicists are working on the project because it is a waste of time. Gleick argues that the obsession with time travel is a cultural fantasy of escaping reality. He seems convinced that the idea of time traveling is not only impossible but ridiculous.

ames Gleick was born in 1954 in New York City. In 1976, he graduated from Harvard College and co-founded Metropolis, an alternative weekly newspaper in Minneapolis, his biography stated.

Gleick worked as an editor and reporter for The New York Times for ten years. His international bestseller book "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood" explores the origin and consequences of the information age. The book won the Royal Society's Winton award for science and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman award for history.

Gleick's first book, "Chaos: Making a New Science" was a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist. Gleick's other books include the best-selling biographies, "Genius: Isaac Newton" and "The Life and Science of Richard Feynman," both of which are shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize, as well as "Faster and What Just Happened."

TagsHG Well Novel, The Time Machine, Albert Einstein, Einstein's Equation of Relativity, James Gleick, Time Travel, Time Travel Preview