Julian Barbour - The Janus Point

Julian Barbours The Janus Point is simply the most important book I have read on cosmology in several years. He presents a novel approach to the central question of why time has a direction, providing a serious alternative to contemporary thinking. With a rare humanity and a perspective based on a lifetime of study of the history and philosophy of cosmology, Barbour writes a book that is both a work of literature and a masterpiece of scientific thought.

LEE SMOLIN, author of The Trouble with Physics

Julian Barbour is well known for his brilliant study of physics history, The Discovery of Dynamics. The Janus Point includes a similar history of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and the arrow of time. But for me the main point of the book was to show history-in-the-making. His shape dynamics is a project to recast the foundations of all of cosmology, gravity, thermodynamics, and the arrow of time. The book has given me a lot to ponder. As Gauss said of Riemanns habilitation lecture, [it] exceeded my expectations.

BILL UNRUH, professor of physics at University of British Columbia

Julian Barbour has no peer when it comes to explaining scientific ideas in a way that is accessible without being simplistic. For good measure he has a talent for using quotes from Shakespeare and other literary sources in a manner that actually helps to elucidate key points. In The Janus Point he tackles subject matter that is notoriously challenging even to scientists, and explains it in a way that gave me new insights and understanding even though I studied these topics in a classroom a long time ago. This is a fitting sequel to his earlier work and helps to pull together several big ideas that some of us have been watching with fascination for decades.

NEAL STEPHENSON, author of Snow Crash

By abandoning the prejudice that particles (atoms, stars) are confined in a box, Julian Barbour has discovered an unexpected and remarkably simple feature of Newtonian dynamics. It is the basis of his seductive and eloquently presented explanation of the history of the universe, even time itself. Is his cosmology correct? Time will tell.

MICHAEL VICTOR BERRY, Melville Wills Professor of Physics (Emeritus) at Bristol University

Julian Barbours infectious enthusiasm for the big ideas in physics is addictive. He has a complete mastery of the history of ideas yet a remarkable lightness and clarity in explaining what are profound concepts. The Janus Point is controversial and gripping, an extraordinary introduction to his view of the universe.

PEDRO G. FERREIRA, author of The Perfect Theory

Julian Barbour is a profound and original thinker, with the boldness to tackle some of natures deepest problems. He is also a fine writer, and this renders his bookdespite its conceptual depthaccessible to anyone who has pondered the mysteries of space and time. Its a distillation of the authors prolonged investigations, and the insights that he offers deserve wide readership.

MARTIN REES, author of On the Future