Science and journalism are two very different disciplines and require a different set of skill sets. Those with skill in one area may or may not have talent in the other. I’m not sure about Sean Carroll’s skills as a scientist, but I have little praise for his talents as a writer.

Carroll seems incapable of explaining things clearly. He attempts to illustrate points throughout the book with convoluted examples that appear to be intended to confuse rather than illuminate. He even manages to make very simple topics (ice cooling water in a glass, or the uncertainty principle for example) a confusing, over-complicated muddle. Couple the above with a dry, meandering writing style that goes on for close to 500 pages and you are left with a reading experience that can best be described as is pure drudgery.

In the end, those that already understand the concepts covered will be able to follow Carroll’s tortuous examples, but are unlikely to learn anything new. Those not familiar with the subject matter will probably not be able to follow Carroll’s examples, and are also unlikely to learn anything new. ‘Time’ is therefore better spent elsewhere (let me suggest Brian Greene’s “Fabric of the Cosmos”).

So what is the ‘ultimate theory of time’? Time is an inherent property of the universe, it goes forwards and not backwards because entropy would decrease if it did (a violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics). That’s it.