Book Review: Introducing Time: A Graphic Guide by Craig Callender and Ralph Edney

Introducing Time: A Graphic Guide by Craig Callender and Ralph Edney

Time is a very common and very difficult concept. Like gravity, it's just there and people hardly ever think about it. This book looks at some philosophical and a lot of scientific and speculative thought about time. The narrative starts with Saint Augustine, who famously said that he knew what time was until he had to explain it to someone. He could not explain time though he thought he knew it. This conundrum plays out through the history of thought down to the present day. Some thinkers only peripherally comment about time, others focus mostly on trying to figure out how time works or might work. The authors also incorporate pop culture time travel ideas (like H. G. Wells's The Time Machine and the Terminator films).

The book (or the at least the ideas presented in it) depends too much on logic. The author has an explicit assumption that if something is not logically contradictory, then it is possible. Lots of theoretical constructs of time, space, and spacetime do not result in logical paradoxes but there is no other evidence (like observable phenomena) for the theories. For example, just because certain events could flow backwards (like billiard balls colliding) doesn't mean they ever do (what about the billiard ball that drops in a pocket?). A lot of speculation seems grounded entirely on theories and don't deal with counter examples or real world experience, which I find unsatisfying. By the third or fourth theory unattached to reality, I found myself rolling my eyes and moving along.

The book ends referencing Augustine and saying that we have a lot more to talk about today but no solid conclusions or agreement on the nature of time. Even worse, some contemporary theories want to deny time's existence, so maybe we have indeed flowed backwards.

The pictures occasionally help to show what the text is explaining. It's more like a graphic textbook than a graphic novel, though the pictures are more like cartoons than textbook illustrations.

The book reads like a movie with a lot of obvious plot holes in it. For me, that's an unenjoyable experience.

Not recommended.