Discover new kitchen selections
Enjoy this audiobook free + more
Free title with your free trial!
$0.00
  • Click above to get a preview of our newest plan - unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $19.77
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Sean Carroll (Author), Erik Synnestvedt (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher)
4.4 out of 5 stars 764 ratings
Time moves forward, not backward-everyone knows you can't unscramble an egg. In the hands of one of today's hottest young physicists, that simple fact of breakfast becomes a doorway to understanding the Big Bang, the universe, and other universes, too. In From Eternity to Here, Sean Carroll argues that the arrow of time, pointing resolutely from the past to the future, owes its existence to conditions before the Big Bang itself-a period of modern cosmology of which Einstein never dreamed. Increasingly, though, physicists are going out into realms that make the theory of relativity seem like child's play. Carroll's scenario is not only elegant, it's laid out in the same easy-to-understand language that has made his group blog, Cosmic Variance, the most popular physics blog on the Net. From Eternity to Here uses ideas at the cutting edge of theoretical physics to explore how properties of space-time before the Big Bang can explain the flow of time we experience in our everyday lives. Carroll suggests that we live in a baby universe, part of a large family of universes in which many of our siblings experience an arrow of time running in the opposite direction. It's an ambitious, fascinating picture of the universe on an ultra-large scale, one that will captivate fans of popular physics blockbusters like Elegant Universe and A Brief History of Time.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Listening Length
    16 hours and 4 minutes
  2. Author
    Sean Carroll
  3. Narrator
    Erik Synnestvedt
  4. Audible release date
    February 5, 2010
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B0037B35VK
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
Next slide of product details

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you buy the Kindle book.

Product details

Listening Length 16 hours and 4 minutes
Author Sean Carroll
Narrator Erik Synnestvedt
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date February 05, 2010
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0037B35VK
Best Sellers Rank

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
764 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book informative and approachable, with great illustrations and quantum gravity discussed at a high level. The language receives mixed feedback - while many appreciate the author's ability to explain complicated ideas, some find it not an easy read. The narrative complexity and time complexity aspects also receive mixed reviews, with one customer noting how each chapter leads to the next, while others find time problematic. The book's length is considered negative by several customers.

Select to learn more

EnlightenednessReadabilityStyleGravitational energyLanguageTime complexityNarrative complexityLength
82 customers mention "Enlightenedness"78 positive4 negative

Customers find the book enlightening, describing it as an approachable science book that discusses fundamental questions with brilliance. One customer particularly appreciates the depth of its descriptions of cutting-edge cosmology and physics.

"...Chapter eight involves an interesting discussion of Boltzmann's formula, which is a calculation of entropy based on the number of microscopic..." Read more

"...there will likely never be a final say, this is a bold introduction to a lot of modern ideas, but dont read it lightly as its value is in the depth..." Read more

"...The book takes a tour through modern theories and speculations by starting with a few fundamental questions "what is time and why is it moving..." Read more

"...Yet in all, an interesting work, but I would love to see a mind like Carroll's be willing to engage the many questions indicating need of a new..." Read more

67 customers mention "Readability"60 positive7 negative

Customers find the book fascinating and well worth their time, describing it as a fun read with plenty of interesting content.

"...done an excellent job of presenting us with an in-depth and provocative introduction to this subject...." Read more

"...allowing you to visit the past without violating relativity is worth reading for its own sake...." Read more

"...but what a wonderful book, too) and then it's up to you. Ah, by the way: the answers to the questions in my first phrase?..." Read more

"...To me the book was quite interesting. A few equations are displayed, but there is no actual use of mathematics...." Read more

9 customers mention "Style"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's style, noting its many great illustrations and interesting look, with one customer mentioning it reads like a comic book.

"...Buy the book. It's great. The new science is wonderful and elegant...." Read more

"...He goes deeply into the issues, but with a reasdable style that can give at least partial enlightenment on one of the most abstract subjects science..." Read more

"...by the layman as many practical examples are given with many great illustrations to help make the ideas more concrete...." Read more

"Book is excellent. Totally new and beautiful inside/outside...." Read more

7 customers mention "Gravitational energy"5 positive2 negative

Customers appreciate the book's treatment of gravitational energy, with several noting its high-level discussion of quantum gravity, and one customer highlighting its coverage of the gravitational issue from General Relativity.

"...Quantum gravity is discussed at a high level and is presented as the theory which eventually will illuminate the subject though the huge fuzziness..." Read more

"...such as entropy direction, Boltzmann Brain, gravitational issue from General Relativity, looping through time, the temporal direction of physical..." Read more

"...Then the gravitational energy is always negative. Assuming a finite universe, you can add up all the positive energy of mass, kinetic energy, etc...." Read more

"...It covers entropy, general relativity, quantum machanics and cosmology. So quite a bit of ground is covered...." Read more

77 customers mention "Language"46 positive31 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the language of the book, with some finding it written to be understood by the layman and excellent at explaining complicated ideas, while others note that it is not an easy read.

"...Don't worry, the book is not heavy on math...." Read more

"...The explanations are good, clear and enlightening - we learn a great deal - if one can stick with it...." Read more

"...This is not a light read, if you make it such you probably will miss a lot of what the author is trying to communicate, im sure I missed a lot of..." Read more

"...Therefore, I conclude, that while this book is very well written and is an excellent introduction to important concepts of modern physics for the..." Read more

10 customers mention "Time complexity"3 positive7 negative

Customers have mixed views on the book's treatment of time complexity, with some noting that time does not speed up elsewhere, while others find it problematic.

"...Time is a very elusive entity because we see its manifestation not its substance..." Read more

"Time is really weird. I mean, it just keeps going and going, but we can experience it in such varied ways...." Read more

"This book is an overview of the time symmetry of most physics and the reality we live in where time seems to evolve in 1 direction...." Read more

"...Time is indeed problematic. The work, devoted to something we experience is a very easy and yet hard thing to describe...." Read more

9 customers mention "Narrative complexity"6 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the narrative complexity of the book, with some appreciating how it presents complex subjects in laymen's terms, while others find it complicated and misleading.

"...I found chapter eleven interesting...." Read more

"...The hypotheticals are somewhat obscure and hard to understand...." Read more

"...It's not an easy read, though, even if it does present super complex subjects in laymen's terms...." Read more

"...I have to say that I specifically liked the final chapter that offers a how the prediction of multiverses may just be a solution that addresses the..." Read more

7 customers mention "Length"0 positive7 negative

Customers find the book's length to be a drawback.

"...requires a fair amount of concentration without stop, and the book is rather long...." Read more

"...At 438 pages, it is also a fairly lengthy challenge, and I expect most readers who are not scientists or have no prior background in the subject..." Read more

"...It is a long read, and 3/4 through the book, as most physics books without formulas are, it can get a bit ethereal, but it's a satisfying read,..." Read more

"...Nearly half of this very long book (the specs say 448 pages, but my Kindle version seemed much longer) is taken up with endless, and often pointless..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Randolph Eck
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Discussion on the Arrow of Time
    Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2012
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is the first book I have read by Sean Carroll, and I found in it an elegant discussion on the concept of the arrow of time. I think he has done an excellent job of presenting us with an in-depth and provocative introduction to this subject. Some parts, I found, required clear, sharp thinking as I read the material; it can sometimes be a bit confusing. Nevertheless, Carroll did quite well in explaining the material in as clear and comprehensive manner as possible. I need to mention that this book packs a tremendous amount of information between it covers. Often I would read only so many pages before have to stop and digest the material.

    He divides the book into four sections. In section one, we get into some talk about the concepts of the past (events near the Big Bang), the present, the future, and an introduction to the laws of thermodynamics, especially the second law which is about entropy - an important topic in our understanding of the arrow of time. We also learn about vacuum energy, time symmetry, and what is maximum entropy as he lays the foundation for what is to come.

    Section two delves into concepts involving relativity, such as the speed of light and light cones, curved spacetime along with a discussion of white and black holes. Here we learn that black holes provide the strongest connection between gravitation and entropy - the two crucial ingredients in an ultimate explanation of the arrow of time according to Carroll.

    Section three introduces us to something called closed time-like curves, a closed flatland universe, and something called a space of states. Microstates and macrostates play an important role in the discussion. Chapter eight involves an interesting discussion of Boltzmann's formula, which is a calculation of entropy based on the number of microscopic arrangements of a system that are macroscopically indistinguishable. For those rusty on exponentials and logarithms, Carroll provides an appendix covering the basics. Don't worry, the book is not heavy on math. We get into a number of concepts involving entropy: Liouville's Theorem, Gibb's formula, Loschmidt's reversibility objection, and the past hypothesis (referring to a boundary condition at the beginning of the universe). I also need to mention Maxwell's demon (illustrating a connection between entropy and information) and Laplace's all-knowing demon. I found chapter eleven interesting. The material delves into quantum mechanics involving such topics as the "quantum cat" and the collapse of the wave function, entanglement, and decoherence. All of the material in this section is actually quite important to building a knowledge foundation for understanding the arrow of time.

    In the last section, there is a more in depth coverage of black holes, which, as I said, provides an important connection between entropy and gravity. The question of why the universe had such a low entropy at the beginning is explored in more depth, and the future state of the universe is hypothesized - possibly something called de Sitter space. Inflation and the multiverse are discussed. In this section, the concept of bubble universes is presented as a possible solution to the arrow of time. I found myself concurring with Carroll on this. It sounds plausible, if not testable.

    Don't worry about all of the concepts introduced in this review. Carroll thoroughly explains and elaborates on these topics in the process of making them understandable.

    If you want a good summary of the contents of the book, I suggest you use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, and scroll down to the table of contents. Under each chapter heading, you will find a brief description of the chapter. This gives you a pretty good idea of what is being discussed.
    10 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • A. Menon
    4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and likely to prompt further study
    Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2010
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    This book is an overview of the time symmetry of most physics and the reality we live in where time seems to evolve in 1 direction. Sean Carroll is a world renowned physicist and so the approach is one that is defined from the implications of our physical laws themselves rather than from a philosophical perspective based on our subjective interpretation of time. Most of the book focuses on time from the perspective of thermodynamics and the second law in particular- entropy is expected to increase through time, though relativistic time and its similarity to space is discussed, as are modern theories of the origin of the universe to try to avoid assuming the problem away theories.

    Let me try to talk briefly on the topics the author explores. The arrow of time is not specifically a part of classical physics (newtonian physics and electromagnetism) and this is confusing as to us, time clearly only moves forward not back. The relativistic aspects of closed spacelike curves and wormholes are addressed briefly as ideas in relativity that approach time's direction, but this isnt focused on in depthly. The author approaches the direction of time as a correspondence between entropy's strict march higher and our experience with the irreversibility of time. The ideas justifying an increase in entropy are well discussed and exponential increase in states if configuration spaces are discussed. This is with the backdrop of a static universe. Poincare's recurrence theorems in dynamical systems is brought up to describe things like the eventual recurrence of low entropy states over time and Boltzmann's retorts which amount to assuming away issues are then included. The book then discusses the change from static universe in which time has no beginning nor end to one which has a beginning and how this avoids recurrence by selecting preferred intial boundary conditions of low entropy, and then the author gets into how this too is unsatisfying as it assumes the problem away again. Quantum ideas are presented, the asymmetry of the collapse of the wave function is brought up but not taken anywhere. On a side note, I still have no clarity on how a spacelike closed curve can exist in a world with quantum mechanics (excluding a multiverse scenario) as I would think that implies there is no probability which can change an event in spacetime's trajectory and the author doesnt discuss that at all. Quantum gravity is discussed at a high level and is presented as the theory which eventually will illuminate the subject though the huge fuzziness of the subject isnt really very encouraging. The book concludes with some modern theories and directions in physics which might give consistent frameworks for worlds with strictly increasing entropy which evolve into our visible universe though is careful to admit that this is all really speculation.

    This is a complicated book. One can probably gloss over a lot of the content and get something out of it, but most of the contents of this book are based off a lot of deep thinking by academic minds over centuries. I for one definately have not come through this book having any stronger feeling about the nature of time, though I now have a better understanding of entropy and information theory. I also think the most clear writing on relativistic time is described in this book which takes only a small portion of the space. This is not a light read, if you make it such you probably will miss a lot of what the author is trying to communicate, im sure I missed a lot of the subtelties though i was trying to concentrate while reading. I did not come out anymore clearly on- why do we remember the past? The author often makes statements about having addressed it as a result of entropy, but I really dont find a rigorous argument in this book that convinces. The state of entropy and its direction impacts the distribution of events in a probabilistic world, it doesnt imply determinism which the arrow of time has a deterministic past from our eyes. The relative entropy of the universe now and 100 years ago being higher is not a reason why we have a memory of the past and literature from the past. The specific reason why we have a flitration of measurable sets to us that is bounded by time is not convincingly shown to be a result of increasing entropy. If it was, then I wish the author spent more time on the arguments. This book is mainly about physics and how time fits in and what time's implications are on physics and then the interpretation of that physics. It is a subject for which there will likely never be a final say, this is a bold introduction to a lot of modern ideas, but dont read it lightly as its value is in the depth of the ideas presented.
    16 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Juan L. Gomez-Perales
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read
    Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Not for the beginner as it is written at a fairly high level. For me it is perfect and one of the best I have read in a while. This was my second book from this author and both were exceptional.
    Report
  • Vent
    5.0 out of 5 stars You should read this guy
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I don't normally review books but i feel compelled to do so here... to be fair, this is more to give props to the author than anything that's necessarily related to the book. I've never read anything by this guy before and I actually bought the author's new book the Big Picture before this book, but my impression is that that book expands on that which is to be found in this book, so i thought it best to put that one down and read this one first.

    Anyway whatever, why does this book get 5 stars? Simple; it's not a short book and he says different and more stuff than is normally found in popular physics books. To not have to again wade through 100 pages of relativity and that damn double slit experiment before i get to what i bought the book to read is refreshing, to say the least! The author actually acknowledges this at some place in the book, too, which was nice. He goes deep (non-mathematically and compared to other popular physics books), into the reasoning behind what these guys are doing and why. Looking at my shelf there is nothing that compares to this guy's books (The Big Picture isn't short, either), save for maybe the World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics. Although, granted, there's only about 50 physics books on my self so i'm not exactly learned, but still, i'm impressed! And will be reading all of this guys books before i'm done (including the one's i didn't consider because i've heard and read about the topics elsewhere), as this guy will say stuff on those topics that i haven't heard before, i'm sure of it.

    As to the legitimacy of the arguments? I haven't got a clue. I'm not a physicist and i don't understand the mathematics behind it all so, basically, i cannot legitimately argue. But it's deep (based on my experience of other books), and it's fascinating.

    In short, if you've read a bunch of physics books and are still looking for something more, i feel confident in recommending that you move this guy to the top of your list!

    ps. maybe i should have posted this in review of his new book for exposure, but i haven't read that book yet and didn't want to hold off on writing this.
    Report
  • Emilio
    5.0 out of 5 stars I already knew this book
    Reviewed in Spain on December 23, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I've read it on epub format. But it's a book worth buying. I wanted it on my shelve for eternity.
    Report
  • Zlatko smole
    3.0 out of 5 stars Font waaay to small
    Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Book itself OK, but the font - I have a perfect sight, tested this year, this is insane. I need a loop. Its basically unreadable for me. Photo attached is appendix part (really relevant) bit the main font is not much bigger. For what, for 10 pages more if font increases?
    Customer image
    Zlatko smole
    3.0 out of 5 stars
    Font waaay to small

    Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2019
    Book itself OK, but the font - I have a perfect sight, tested this year, this is insane. I need a loop. Its basically unreadable for me. Photo attached is appendix part (really relevant) bit the main font is not much bigger. For what, for 10 pages more if font increases?
    Images in this review
    Customer image
    Report
  • Cliente Kindle
    5.0 out of 5 stars L'importanza e il mistero dell'entropia
    Reviewed in Italy on November 6, 2019
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Il miglior libro che io abbia mai letto sul problema del tempo( e ne ho letti diversi!). Si basa sopratutto sulla legge dell'entropia, spiegandone molto bene il concetto e i diversi significati.Da leggere, per chi è appassionato dei problemi più grandi e profondi del cosmo e della vita.
    Report