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Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality
This is the dramatic and inspirational first-person story of theoretical physicist, Dr. Ronald Mallett, who recently discovered the basic equations for a working time machine that he believes can be used as a transport vehicle to the past.
Combining elements of Rocket Boys and Elegant Universe , Time Traveler follows Mallett's discovery of Einstein's work on space-time, his study of Godel's work on a solution of Einstein's equation that might allow for time travel, and his own research in theoretical physics spanning thirty years that culminated in his recent discovery of the effects of circulating laser light and its application to time travel.
The foundation for Mallett's historic time-travel work is Einstein's theory of general relativity, a sound platform for any physicist. Through his years of reading and studying Einstein, Mallett became a buff well before he had any notion of the importance of the grand old relativist's theories to his own career. One interesting subtext to the story is Mallett's identification with, and keen interest in, Einstein. Mallett provides easy-to-understand explanations of the famous physicist's seminal work.
Combining elements of Rocket Boys and Elegant Universe , Time Traveler follows Mallett's discovery of Einstein's work on space-time, his study of Godel's work on a solution of Einstein's equation that might allow for time travel, and his own research in theoretical physics spanning thirty years that culminated in his recent discovery of the effects of circulating laser light and its application to time travel.
The foundation for Mallett's historic time-travel work is Einstein's theory of general relativity, a sound platform for any physicist. Through his years of reading and studying Einstein, Mallett became a buff well before he had any notion of the importance of the grand old relativist's theories to his own career. One interesting subtext to the story is Mallett's identification with, and keen interest in, Einstein. Mallett provides easy-to-understand explanations of the famous physicist's seminal work.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published October 24, 2006
48 people are currently reading
915 people want to read
About the author
Ronald L. Mallett
3 books12 followersRonald Lawrence "Ron" Mallett is an American theoretical physicist, academic, and author. He has taught physics at the University of Connecticut since 1975. He is best known for his scientific position on the possibility of time travel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
June 4, 2012
There are a lot of reasons to want to build a time machine. To learn the truth about historical places and events, to see creatures that have been extinct for millions of years, to kill Hitler - always a favorite. You could go to the Library of Alexandria and save the works of great scientists and philosophers that have been lost to history. You could document the Crucifixion or watch the fall of Rome first-hand. You could see Jimi or Elvis or Janice or Kurt in their heyday, watch the original performances of Shakespeare's plays, or talk engineering with DaVinci. With a time machine, the whole of history is open to you, and your options are just about limitless.
All Ron Mallett wanted to do with his time machine was see his dad.
This book is not just about how one man went about figuring out how to travel through time. That in itself would be interesting, since time travel has been a dream of mankind ever since we figured out that time was a thing. There's a lot of complicated science that goes into not just manipulating time, but figuring out that it can be manipulated, and it takes half a lifetime to master. A lot of popular science books focus on the science, unsurprisingly, and talk about how certain things were discovered and what can be done with them in the future.
That's all well and good, but this book adds an extra element that's often missing from other popular science texts. It talks about why.
When Ron Mallett was ten years old, his father died of a heart attack brought about by a combination of smoking, poor dietary choices, and a genetic inclination towards heart problems. Overnight, the man that young Ron loved and idolized was gone, leaving him directionless at an age when having a father can be so very important. With the loss of a beloved parent, it's entirely possible that Ron could have seen his life crippled from that day onward.
It might have been, if not for H.G. Wells and his famous book, The Time Machine.
After he read this book, the notion that time could be navigated became the center of his life. His first attempt at a time machine - built of pipes and wires in his basement - was unsuccessful, of course. But he was undeterred, and realized that if he was going to make this dream come true, he would have to buckle down and start learning some science. Just the idea that he might one day build a machine to travel through time was enough to give him direction and purpose, and it set him on a course that would go on to define his life.
The book is a memoir of his own travels through the world of physics and relativity, moving from one point to another as new ideas and discoveries signposted his route towards a theory of time travel. Initially guided by Einstein, Mallett went from being a young academic to programming computers for the Air Force, to becoming a full-fledged academic at the University of Connecticut. He makes sure that the reader can not only follow all the steps that he took, but that we can also see why he took them. What chance encounters and lucky finds pushed him forward, or what unfortunate incidents slowed him down. He reminds us all throughout the book of why he has chosen to do science, and never lets us forget this motivation.
At the same time, he is sure to tell us about two rather significant obstacles to his progress. The first, of course, was that he felt he couldn't be honest about why he was studying what he was studying - relativity, black holes, lasers, that kind of thing. For fear that he would be labeled a crackpot and denied the opportunities he would need, he revealed his ambition to build a time machine only to those he felt he could absolutely trust. As far as anyone else was concerned, of course, he was just another theoretical physicist trying to figure out how the universe worked.
The other challenge he faced was that he was African-American in a field that was very, very white at the time. He had to deal with racism in both its overt and covert forms, and work even harder to prove himself to those who couldn't - or wouldn't - see past his skin color. He doesn't dwell on it in this book, since that's not what this book is about. But I'm sure if he wanted to write about what it was like trying to break into physics academia as an African-American in the 60s and 70s, he probably could.
What's most important, though, is that he continually reminds us of why he's doing what he's doing. He talks about his father, and the memories he had of him. He keeps his non-academic life in view, letting us in on his personal triumphs and failures, his struggles with depression and his joys at advancing towards his goal. The end result is a book that is not only about science, but about a person. The emotional thread that runs through this book is strong, and even if you can't quite follow the science, you can still follow the passion that Ron Mallett has for this project.
The book, while fascinating, is technically unfinished. He has yet to build his time machine, and there's no proof that the ideas he's come forward will actually work, even if the math says they should. As the book finishes, he has a plan, and he lays out the way he thinks his machine should work, but we'll have to wait to see how that works out. Whether he succeeds or fails, though, he has built up a lifetime of research that has expanded our understanding of space and time in such a way that Einstein - and Ron Mallett's father - would no doubt be proud of.
------------------
"Time stopped for me in the middle of the night on May 22, 1955."
- Ron Mallett, "Time Traveler"
------------------
All Ron Mallett wanted to do with his time machine was see his dad.
This book is not just about how one man went about figuring out how to travel through time. That in itself would be interesting, since time travel has been a dream of mankind ever since we figured out that time was a thing. There's a lot of complicated science that goes into not just manipulating time, but figuring out that it can be manipulated, and it takes half a lifetime to master. A lot of popular science books focus on the science, unsurprisingly, and talk about how certain things were discovered and what can be done with them in the future.
That's all well and good, but this book adds an extra element that's often missing from other popular science texts. It talks about why.
When Ron Mallett was ten years old, his father died of a heart attack brought about by a combination of smoking, poor dietary choices, and a genetic inclination towards heart problems. Overnight, the man that young Ron loved and idolized was gone, leaving him directionless at an age when having a father can be so very important. With the loss of a beloved parent, it's entirely possible that Ron could have seen his life crippled from that day onward.
It might have been, if not for H.G. Wells and his famous book, The Time Machine.
After he read this book, the notion that time could be navigated became the center of his life. His first attempt at a time machine - built of pipes and wires in his basement - was unsuccessful, of course. But he was undeterred, and realized that if he was going to make this dream come true, he would have to buckle down and start learning some science. Just the idea that he might one day build a machine to travel through time was enough to give him direction and purpose, and it set him on a course that would go on to define his life.
The book is a memoir of his own travels through the world of physics and relativity, moving from one point to another as new ideas and discoveries signposted his route towards a theory of time travel. Initially guided by Einstein, Mallett went from being a young academic to programming computers for the Air Force, to becoming a full-fledged academic at the University of Connecticut. He makes sure that the reader can not only follow all the steps that he took, but that we can also see why he took them. What chance encounters and lucky finds pushed him forward, or what unfortunate incidents slowed him down. He reminds us all throughout the book of why he has chosen to do science, and never lets us forget this motivation.
At the same time, he is sure to tell us about two rather significant obstacles to his progress. The first, of course, was that he felt he couldn't be honest about why he was studying what he was studying - relativity, black holes, lasers, that kind of thing. For fear that he would be labeled a crackpot and denied the opportunities he would need, he revealed his ambition to build a time machine only to those he felt he could absolutely trust. As far as anyone else was concerned, of course, he was just another theoretical physicist trying to figure out how the universe worked.
The other challenge he faced was that he was African-American in a field that was very, very white at the time. He had to deal with racism in both its overt and covert forms, and work even harder to prove himself to those who couldn't - or wouldn't - see past his skin color. He doesn't dwell on it in this book, since that's not what this book is about. But I'm sure if he wanted to write about what it was like trying to break into physics academia as an African-American in the 60s and 70s, he probably could.
What's most important, though, is that he continually reminds us of why he's doing what he's doing. He talks about his father, and the memories he had of him. He keeps his non-academic life in view, letting us in on his personal triumphs and failures, his struggles with depression and his joys at advancing towards his goal. The end result is a book that is not only about science, but about a person. The emotional thread that runs through this book is strong, and even if you can't quite follow the science, you can still follow the passion that Ron Mallett has for this project.
The book, while fascinating, is technically unfinished. He has yet to build his time machine, and there's no proof that the ideas he's come forward will actually work, even if the math says they should. As the book finishes, he has a plan, and he lays out the way he thinks his machine should work, but we'll have to wait to see how that works out. Whether he succeeds or fails, though, he has built up a lifetime of research that has expanded our understanding of space and time in such a way that Einstein - and Ron Mallett's father - would no doubt be proud of.
------------------
"Time stopped for me in the middle of the night on May 22, 1955."
- Ron Mallett, "Time Traveler"
------------------
January 13, 2017
I may have started out my year a bit unsteady with the goofy "Tinker", but if this book is an indication of what is to come, I may fall in love with reading again!
I don't recall exactly when I bought this book, other than it was several moves ago. For whatever reason, it survived multiple cullings but I never read it because I figured this would be a book going into some hardcore math and science - and as much as I love math and science, you gotta be in a mood for that.
I probably would have left it on the shelf for many more years if I hadn't come across an Audible deal for this. I snapped it up, and when I finished Tinker, I thought I'd whip through this 7-hour read.
Best Money I've Spent. Best 7 Hours of My Life (and given most of those hours were when I was sick on my bed, that's pretty damned high praise!).
This wasn't a hardcore math/science of the feasibility of time travel - this was one man's personal journey from losing his father as a child, dealing with grief and then discovering, via reading "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells his passion - time travel.
This book has it all - it's poignant and powerful. It is smart and funny. It talks about race relations (Ronald Mallet is a black man), it talks about grief. From the beginning to the end (with one MINOR MINOR blip that a part gets repeated without acknowledging it was discussed earlier), I was ENTHRALLED. There were moments I wanted to cry. There were moments when I was on the edge of my seat, dying to know what happened next.
I think that Ronald Mallet has an incredible story, one that packs a powerful punch. If you are remotely interested in science or perhaps want to seek out stories for Black History Month, this needs to get on your list. Even if you hate math and don't know what a differential equation is, I think you will find something to enjoy!
I don't recall exactly when I bought this book, other than it was several moves ago. For whatever reason, it survived multiple cullings but I never read it because I figured this would be a book going into some hardcore math and science - and as much as I love math and science, you gotta be in a mood for that.
I probably would have left it on the shelf for many more years if I hadn't come across an Audible deal for this. I snapped it up, and when I finished Tinker, I thought I'd whip through this 7-hour read.
Best Money I've Spent. Best 7 Hours of My Life (and given most of those hours were when I was sick on my bed, that's pretty damned high praise!).
This wasn't a hardcore math/science of the feasibility of time travel - this was one man's personal journey from losing his father as a child, dealing with grief and then discovering, via reading "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells his passion - time travel.
This book has it all - it's poignant and powerful. It is smart and funny. It talks about race relations (Ronald Mallet is a black man), it talks about grief. From the beginning to the end (with one MINOR MINOR blip that a part gets repeated without acknowledging it was discussed earlier), I was ENTHRALLED. There were moments I wanted to cry. There were moments when I was on the edge of my seat, dying to know what happened next.
I think that Ronald Mallet has an incredible story, one that packs a powerful punch. If you are remotely interested in science or perhaps want to seek out stories for Black History Month, this needs to get on your list. Even if you hate math and don't know what a differential equation is, I think you will find something to enjoy!
July 13, 2014
Understanding time travel was always such a dense mystery to me, but Mallett is highly skilled in how he explains it for the ordinary person. I'm a writer of supernatural mysteries and do not have a mind for math, physics, or electrical technology at all. After reading Time Traveler, I have a much clearer perspective on just how possible time travel might actually be. Mallet explains about laser optical time, unidirectional circulating light beams and closed time loops in clear easy-to-understand language. There is even a drawing of the transmitter for the time travel machine that made sense to me.
But this is not just a book about a theory into a scientific adventure of traveling back in time. We are brought into the personal life of Mallett, into his trials as he grows up and becomes the gifted and passionate scientist that he is today. As any childhood trauma can redirect a life, Mallett writes about his father's death with deep sensitivity and focuses on the emotional growth that directed him into the field of science. Can time and space be manipulated so a person can go back into the past? Do we have that knowledge or can we acquire that scientific knowledge? Einstein thought that "imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." This book shows that Mallett certainly has the scientific knowledge, the passion, and the imagination to get us there.
But this is not just a book about a theory into a scientific adventure of traveling back in time. We are brought into the personal life of Mallett, into his trials as he grows up and becomes the gifted and passionate scientist that he is today. As any childhood trauma can redirect a life, Mallett writes about his father's death with deep sensitivity and focuses on the emotional growth that directed him into the field of science. Can time and space be manipulated so a person can go back into the past? Do we have that knowledge or can we acquire that scientific knowledge? Einstein thought that "imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." This book shows that Mallett certainly has the scientific knowledge, the passion, and the imagination to get us there.
January 14, 2021
A book filled with personal stories and struggles that describes what shaped the future theoretical physicist, Ronald Mallet, with the loss of his father at age 10. He was deeply affected by this tragic event in the life of his family and wanted to see his dad again, so he got interested in time travel first through science fiction, then through physics. The author does a wonderful job of introducing physics concepts related to time travel, in particular, general relativity, interspersed with the history of physics. This is a book worth reading for those who like technical and inspiring stories of triumph and dedication.
October 9, 2017
I love this guy. Ronald has the entirely unreasonable goal of making time travel a reality, so that he can go back and see his Dad one more time.
As one of the world's leading physicists, he also has the intellectual knowledge to help make this a reality.
I found his story to be honest, heartwarming, slightly naive and quite inspiring, and was most interested by his layman's explanations of various scientific concepts, though there is a lot of autobiography in there as well.
As one of the world's leading physicists, he also has the intellectual knowledge to help make this a reality.
I found his story to be honest, heartwarming, slightly naive and quite inspiring, and was most interested by his layman's explanations of various scientific concepts, though there is a lot of autobiography in there as well.
January 29, 2018
Interesting Book. Didn't think it was going to be about his as much as it was and gets pretty boring in the middle.
April 6, 2024
A PHYSICIST LOOKS POSITIVELY AT THE POSSIBILITY OF TIME TRAVEL
Ronald Lawrence Mallett (born March 30, 1945) is an American theoretical physicist, academic and author. He has been a faculty member of the University of Connecticut since 1975.
He wrote in the Prologue to this 2006 book about a presentation he made to a scientific audience: “I began by reviewing the tenets of Einstein’s general relativity theory… I began to outline my own theories based on Einstein’s work, projecting on a screen my … solutions, which I said showed that space and time would be manipulated n a whole new way that would lead to the possibility of time travel into the past. A satisfying thought hit me---my dream and I had come a LONG WAY….” (Pg. xiii)
He recounts reading H.G. Wells’ book ‘The Time Machine,’ and musing, “Did this mean … I might be able to go back in time and warn my father to go to the doctor, slow down, take better care of himself?... Could I change his fate? And mine? Could I bring him back?” (Pg. 15) Later reading a story by Ray Bradbury, he recalls, “I began to consider the delicacies of time travel, and realized there could be major undesired effects on the present as a result of something a time traveler inadvertently did in the past…” (Pg. 21)
Later, he argues, “according to the exciting relativity physics of Einstein, if I’m moving very fast and someone else is standing still… then ‘t’ does not equal ‘t.’ Because I am moving, the other person’s time is not equal to my time. In relativity physics, time is changed by motion—and time travel is possible.” (Pg. 29)
He acknowledges, “This type of time travel associated with the time dilation effect in special relativity is a one-way trip. For example, when Jim arrives on earth in 2085 he can never get back to 2035. So, Einstein’s special relativity allows time travel to the earth’s future but not into the past---the direction in which, for my own very personal reasons, I was interested in going.” (Pg. 66-67)
He recalls, “as I dropped off to sleep, I had this dreamlike vision of mathematical symbols for four dimensions combined with an extra symbol to make a fifth dimension. I awoke with a start and realized that the four dimensions of Minkowski space of special relativity were not enough… I had to use the four dimensions of spacetime in an extra dimension that represented the curvature of de Sitter space in a fictitious hyperspace. I knew at once that this five-dimensional point of view was correct.” (Pg. 80)
He explains, “My reason for keeping mum about my interest in time travel was one of practicality: to advance up the academic ladder… it is best not to be pegged … as a crackpot… when I was a full tenured professor, I would feel freer to publicly work on, and speak about, the subject that had caused me to … become a physicist in the first place.” (Pg. 103)
He reports that “In their 1988 paper, [Kip] Thorne … and his collaborators showed how a wormhole could be used as a time machine… This could be accomplished by accelerating one end of the wormhole relative to the other; relativistic time-dilation … would result in less time having passed for the accelerated wormhole mouth compared to the stationary one. This means that an object which entered the accelerated wormhole mouth could exit the stationary end at a point in time prior to its entry… A wormhole with this property could be thought of as a hole in time.” (Pg. 145-146)
He explains, “My calculations showed that the gravitational field of a circulating light beam COULD, in fact, produce one of the important effects associated with the gravity of rotating matter: frame dragging… The presence of frame dragging was significant since it was linked in black holes to the formation of closed time-like loops. It was logical to expect that frame dragging by a circulating light beam could also be linked to closed loops in time. I knew that was the direction I would next take my work.” (Pg. 152)
He reports of a 2001 lecture he gave: “I pointed out… If space gets twisted, time gets twisted… I was working on a solution … which I hoped would show that two light beams circulating in opposite directions would lead to time being twisted in a loop, and that this in turn would lead to time travel into the past. ‘However,’ I said, ‘this research is not yet complete.’” (Pg. 158-159)
He recounts a conversation with Alan Guth of MIT: “Guth said that he could see how loops in time could happen if I based this part of my theory … wherein I had the light beams circulating in only one direction. But he didn’t believe that two beams of light circulating in opposite directions would work. His intelligent critique struck a chord… I would have to attack head-on the problem of calculating the strong gravitational field of a light beam circulating in only one direction. I thanked Guth and left Boston knowing that I had more work to do.” (Pg. 163)
Later, “I finally had an exact solution of the field equations… When I worked the numbers and the frame dragging effect of a circulating light cylinder became strong enough, the circle in space turned into a circle in time. This meant that there were closed loops in time outside the circulating cylinder of light what would lead to time travel in the past…” (Pg. 169)
But soon, “a realization hit me: My time machine would only carry a time traveler back to the moment the machine was turned on, and not one second before… What it meant was that when the first time machine that could transport a human being became operational, our descendants might be able to visit us, but we could never visit our ancestors.” (Pg. 173) Later, he states, “[This] solves a problem raised by Stephen Hawking… If travel into the past became possible at some future date, why haven’t we received time travelers from the future?... one possible answer: … because the first working time machine has yet to be switched on. Once a machine that can transport humans is activated, we may start receiving visitors from the future, as they will then have a portal through which they can reach us.” (Pg, 191)
He explains, “my experimental colleague… and I decided to initially concentrate on demonstrating the first part of my time-travel theory: that a gravitational field of a circulating beam of light would lead to a twisting of space with the resultant frame dragging… If we could not experimentally produce frame dragging, it would be pointless to look for closed loops in time.” (Pg. 178-179)
Later, he continues, “If we can send an elementary particle back in time, we can send any other matter back as well, although to do so would require more lasers and more energy. When we are in the final stages of building the time machine, it is this kind of experiment that … [we] will first attempt to perform at his lab. If a difference in the lifetime of the decay of unstable elementary particles is indeed observed, then the concept of a circulating light time machine will have been verified---and the age of time travel to the past will be ushered in.” (Pg. 189)
He addressed the so-called ‘Grandfather Paradox’: “One application of quantum probabilities is the parallel-worlds theory of the universe, which states that at every possible decision point, the universe splits into different parallel branches… this splitting does not refer to conscious choices---it just happens, and regardless of which universe we live in we would not know about the existence of the other.” (Pg. 194)
He concludes, “Unlike traveling into the past, time travel into the future does not lead to such paradoxes… As for traveling into the past, I believe it will ultimately happen… The question of whether time travel occurs between parallel worlds… can only be answered after the first time machine is turned on… Time travel would allow us an unprecedented control of our destiny.” (Pg. 196)
I wasn’t persuaded by this book that time travel really IS possible. But the book will be of keen interest to those studying such speculative theories.
Ronald Lawrence Mallett (born March 30, 1945) is an American theoretical physicist, academic and author. He has been a faculty member of the University of Connecticut since 1975.
He wrote in the Prologue to this 2006 book about a presentation he made to a scientific audience: “I began by reviewing the tenets of Einstein’s general relativity theory… I began to outline my own theories based on Einstein’s work, projecting on a screen my … solutions, which I said showed that space and time would be manipulated n a whole new way that would lead to the possibility of time travel into the past. A satisfying thought hit me---my dream and I had come a LONG WAY….” (Pg. xiii)
He recounts reading H.G. Wells’ book ‘The Time Machine,’ and musing, “Did this mean … I might be able to go back in time and warn my father to go to the doctor, slow down, take better care of himself?... Could I change his fate? And mine? Could I bring him back?” (Pg. 15) Later reading a story by Ray Bradbury, he recalls, “I began to consider the delicacies of time travel, and realized there could be major undesired effects on the present as a result of something a time traveler inadvertently did in the past…” (Pg. 21)
Later, he argues, “according to the exciting relativity physics of Einstein, if I’m moving very fast and someone else is standing still… then ‘t’ does not equal ‘t.’ Because I am moving, the other person’s time is not equal to my time. In relativity physics, time is changed by motion—and time travel is possible.” (Pg. 29)
He acknowledges, “This type of time travel associated with the time dilation effect in special relativity is a one-way trip. For example, when Jim arrives on earth in 2085 he can never get back to 2035. So, Einstein’s special relativity allows time travel to the earth’s future but not into the past---the direction in which, for my own very personal reasons, I was interested in going.” (Pg. 66-67)
He recalls, “as I dropped off to sleep, I had this dreamlike vision of mathematical symbols for four dimensions combined with an extra symbol to make a fifth dimension. I awoke with a start and realized that the four dimensions of Minkowski space of special relativity were not enough… I had to use the four dimensions of spacetime in an extra dimension that represented the curvature of de Sitter space in a fictitious hyperspace. I knew at once that this five-dimensional point of view was correct.” (Pg. 80)
He explains, “My reason for keeping mum about my interest in time travel was one of practicality: to advance up the academic ladder… it is best not to be pegged … as a crackpot… when I was a full tenured professor, I would feel freer to publicly work on, and speak about, the subject that had caused me to … become a physicist in the first place.” (Pg. 103)
He reports that “In their 1988 paper, [Kip] Thorne … and his collaborators showed how a wormhole could be used as a time machine… This could be accomplished by accelerating one end of the wormhole relative to the other; relativistic time-dilation … would result in less time having passed for the accelerated wormhole mouth compared to the stationary one. This means that an object which entered the accelerated wormhole mouth could exit the stationary end at a point in time prior to its entry… A wormhole with this property could be thought of as a hole in time.” (Pg. 145-146)
He explains, “My calculations showed that the gravitational field of a circulating light beam COULD, in fact, produce one of the important effects associated with the gravity of rotating matter: frame dragging… The presence of frame dragging was significant since it was linked in black holes to the formation of closed time-like loops. It was logical to expect that frame dragging by a circulating light beam could also be linked to closed loops in time. I knew that was the direction I would next take my work.” (Pg. 152)
He reports of a 2001 lecture he gave: “I pointed out… If space gets twisted, time gets twisted… I was working on a solution … which I hoped would show that two light beams circulating in opposite directions would lead to time being twisted in a loop, and that this in turn would lead to time travel into the past. ‘However,’ I said, ‘this research is not yet complete.’” (Pg. 158-159)
He recounts a conversation with Alan Guth of MIT: “Guth said that he could see how loops in time could happen if I based this part of my theory … wherein I had the light beams circulating in only one direction. But he didn’t believe that two beams of light circulating in opposite directions would work. His intelligent critique struck a chord… I would have to attack head-on the problem of calculating the strong gravitational field of a light beam circulating in only one direction. I thanked Guth and left Boston knowing that I had more work to do.” (Pg. 163)
Later, “I finally had an exact solution of the field equations… When I worked the numbers and the frame dragging effect of a circulating light cylinder became strong enough, the circle in space turned into a circle in time. This meant that there were closed loops in time outside the circulating cylinder of light what would lead to time travel in the past…” (Pg. 169)
But soon, “a realization hit me: My time machine would only carry a time traveler back to the moment the machine was turned on, and not one second before… What it meant was that when the first time machine that could transport a human being became operational, our descendants might be able to visit us, but we could never visit our ancestors.” (Pg. 173) Later, he states, “[This] solves a problem raised by Stephen Hawking… If travel into the past became possible at some future date, why haven’t we received time travelers from the future?... one possible answer: … because the first working time machine has yet to be switched on. Once a machine that can transport humans is activated, we may start receiving visitors from the future, as they will then have a portal through which they can reach us.” (Pg, 191)
He explains, “my experimental colleague… and I decided to initially concentrate on demonstrating the first part of my time-travel theory: that a gravitational field of a circulating beam of light would lead to a twisting of space with the resultant frame dragging… If we could not experimentally produce frame dragging, it would be pointless to look for closed loops in time.” (Pg. 178-179)
Later, he continues, “If we can send an elementary particle back in time, we can send any other matter back as well, although to do so would require more lasers and more energy. When we are in the final stages of building the time machine, it is this kind of experiment that … [we] will first attempt to perform at his lab. If a difference in the lifetime of the decay of unstable elementary particles is indeed observed, then the concept of a circulating light time machine will have been verified---and the age of time travel to the past will be ushered in.” (Pg. 189)
He addressed the so-called ‘Grandfather Paradox’: “One application of quantum probabilities is the parallel-worlds theory of the universe, which states that at every possible decision point, the universe splits into different parallel branches… this splitting does not refer to conscious choices---it just happens, and regardless of which universe we live in we would not know about the existence of the other.” (Pg. 194)
He concludes, “Unlike traveling into the past, time travel into the future does not lead to such paradoxes… As for traveling into the past, I believe it will ultimately happen… The question of whether time travel occurs between parallel worlds… can only be answered after the first time machine is turned on… Time travel would allow us an unprecedented control of our destiny.” (Pg. 196)
I wasn’t persuaded by this book that time travel really IS possible. But the book will be of keen interest to those studying such speculative theories.
July 31, 2014
Truly, there is a review that says what I want to say about this book and he got it spot on. Credit goes to and now I cannot find it. Well this book inspired me, it touches on family dynamics, emotional issues, depression, drive and determination, passion, racial issues, love, and science. Dr.Mallett talks about Physics in a way that even I could grasp it and there were times when I was clueless about his descriptions and explanations, but this book is very readable and I now want to meet Dr. mallett. Interesting tidbit _ he works at UConn and so do I. Cannot wait for his next talk there! Found it! Chris is the reviewer who nailed it.
August 12, 2019
I was under the impression this was a science book.
instead, I get a memoir about how poor and tough his childhood was (still better than mine). still I waited for the science bit.
Well, the science was very brief and tentative. From what little I understood, it would be far too early to call it 'time travel'.
I'll stick to Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, thanks.
instead, I get a memoir about how poor and tough his childhood was (still better than mine). still I waited for the science bit.
Well, the science was very brief and tentative. From what little I understood, it would be far too early to call it 'time travel'.
I'll stick to Michio Kaku and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, thanks.
May 5, 2013
Cinematic story of a young boy who wants to build a time machine in order to reach out to his deceased father. He grows up to become a renowned theoretical physicist who breaks the code to making time travel a real possibility. Love to see the adaptation on the big screen.
February 14, 2023
Ronald Mallett is a US treasure, it’s a spectacular story of a curious boy (really resonated with the love of sci-fi) plagued with early tragedy, hardship in an evolving nation, military services, and severe academic perseverance (the math… oh the squiggles of detailed math). I don’t know if trying to relive the past is the healthiest thing, though as stated in the “Great Gatsby” it is certainly an American theme. That said, if the current methods are not bearing fruit, perhaps some things have been overlooked. I know he has work in place with lasers but I think a lot have been left off the table due to it’s association with woo woo or old yogic sciences. So here are some clues or observations that are not complete but hopefully helpful.
The Mind Body Problem
This is one of those big philosophical milestones in trying to find the relationship (clay powered by alchemical fire) between nouns (alchemical earth) and verbs (alchemical water). The answer should come from light as at its speed, space and time are equivalent dimensions. Furthermore, each mass has its own frequency or length in time as measured in mass spectroscopy. There is the connection as a particle (al-earth) has a unique shape in time due to its frequencies (al-water) and these alter with energy levels (al-fire). I know that sounds like gibberish (originated from gerber for the arabic alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan who put his works in codes to look like nonsense on the surface) so let’s look at some modern scientific observations.
+At the Molecular Level
This is tough since the human mind isn’t an independent observer of the passage of time as its constructed by time in its growth. Still kind of gibberish, but the different phenomena of the mind are influenced by neurotransmitters and hormones which are molecules. This reduced level of complexity lends itself to reductionism of the functional relationship of these standardized molecules and their effects on the mind. Further, the effects can be classified and compared to their molecular structure (shape, types of bonds, and types of elements in an arrangement) to the observed phenomena in your state of mind. So let's go over some functional relationships in analogy:
-Dopamine - The best analogy to functionality comes from Professor Amy Arnsten as quoted in Dr. Ratey’s “Spark.” She uses the radio as an analogy and that dopamine acts as the ‘tuning knob’ for finding a station. So it helps with the clarity or focus in neurons with the receptors. Physically, we can look at where dopamine is used for motion. Lacking dopamine in these circuits leads to Parkinson's disease in which focused smooth movements are lost and staticy vibrations or limbs occur. A similar shaking phenomena is seen in the ‘dt’s or delirium tremens in initial withdrawal of alcoholics dependent on it as a source of dopamine after a high tolerance. Mentally this analogy works for ADD or ADHD as dopamine is lacking in different circuits and the individual cannot focus on one thought at a time (also like a staticky radio hopping thoughts or focus instead of stations).
-Noradrenaline/Norepinephrine (some make the distinction outside/inside the blood brain barrier but both are common terms for the same molecule) - Continuing the analogy Dr. Arnsten likens this neurotransmitter to the ‘volume knob’ of a stereo but for neurons instead. So the amplitude of neurons releasing this molecule is higher or jumps out. There could be several things that you can focus on but some are more loud in a mental sense and that is norad/ep.
-Adrenaline/epinephrine - So this is an extension of Dr. Arnsten’s work with observations from Dr. van der Kolk’s observations in “The Body Keeps Score.” Essentially, memories with adrenaline are richer or have a higher data compression (something explored later) and thus this could be likened to ‘fast forward button’ where faster firing or more widespread (perhaps parallel processing) can allow for this richer amount of information in the same amount of time. The interesting thing is that all three of these molecules so fare have almost identical key like structures (a carbon hex head with knobs and tails differing), process into one another, and have adjacent mental functions.
GABA, Acetylcholine, and Glutamate - Roughly functioning these are Calming (inhibiting), Learning (dendritic rewiring if I’ve grasped it), and Memory (synapse strength). What is interesting is that they also have a very similar vvv base shape with some elemental swaps and add ons corresponding to their respective functions (or that’s the conjecture).
Serotonin - Dr. Lustig’s “The Hacking of the American Mind” equates this with contentment which is a great way to describe the feeling but I think ‘reset’ is better in a functional term in it’s role for upregulation as described in Scientific America’s “The Book of the Brain.”
Sour - Acidic or positively charged molecules in water
Bitter - Basic or negatively charged molecules in water
Salty - ionic molecules (a bond of both the former like sodium chloride with a positive and negative end)
Sweet - hexagonal molecules like glucose, fructose, or sucrose (a bit of both)
Umami - Mono sodium glutamate
Cold - Menthol can stimulate this as a molecule despite the thermal temperature being far above the range that would stimulate receptors. So the vibratory pattern of mentol’s molecular structure must resonate with cold sensation’s neuronal structure that’s made for other molecular vibrations based on a heat band
Hot - David Linden’s “Touch coverers the former receptor and this one in his work but also makes the distinction that there are two neural sensors for heat bands (he also has a cool factoid that snakes hiss because that have a ton of these sensors densely packed in there pit organ and can spacial map them to see in heat or infrared). There are sensors in the mouth and skin and a ‘hot’ pepper or mace can artificially activate them… so once again the structure seems to vibrate internally on its own in a pattern that thermal energy normally moves whole molecules or light.
Neuronal Molecular Biology - By analogy, the neurotransmitters are kind of like picks used on a guitar with the caveat that the hand that strums would be the vibration or the molecule itself (at the human body temp for energy). Moreso each of the atoms would move with it’s bundle of frequencies with discrete movements independent of other molecules like simultaneous structure (Carbon- Carbon Oxygen, Nitrogen, Double bonded Carbon) in order of operations by their mass spectrometry frequency and vibration at that temp as well as the polarities, hydrophylla/phobia, bonds, and angles of transferred motion of the parts into the whole. So kind of like sheet music for the elements but altered by how they are arranged. But they are not in a vacuum and must somehow resonate with their given receptor which is also a molecular structure also describable in terms of mathematics for resonance or alteration. So the neuron is like the instrument and the receptors are like cords only capable of certain picks with built in notes. I’ve yet to read SIR Penrose’s “The Emperor’s New Mind '' but the focus on microtubule structures and quantum mechanics seems a good ground on the more 'alchemical air’ side. It’s still very sketchy in a rough outline sense and the textbooks on the mechanics of it will take a while to study spectroscopy and biophotonics… but if anyone is interested in synthesizing a layman version in geometry instead of greek symbols it would save a lot of time.
+Larger Scale of Brain Waves
That last bit is more unfinished but this part makes the same assumptions at a larger scale to have an orchestra or an ocean with waves on waves on waves but a focus on the first or largest scale ones. These are observations anyone can make as long as they have a mind and can remember the perception of time as an experience… note the pattern of how you perceive time with the corresponding frequency/wavelength numbers:
-Delta (wavelength:1/3rd - 2 seconds long) - Deep sleep between dreams/REM sleep. Almost no conscious awareness as if time moves in an instant of falling asleep, dreaming every couple of hours, experiencing no time between, and waking up.
-Theta (wavelength: 1/4 - 1/8th of a second long) - Very groggy or extremely relaxed. The length of time relative to a standard second is shorter… so perception is ‘denser’ but time still seems to be fleeting while nodding in and out (think of time like a ruler with the wavelengths as marks spread out as different distances and frames of film on each mark… you experience the pictures and not the ruler so time seems to speed up or slow down based on the size of the wavelengths).
-Alpha (wavelength: 1/9th -1/12th of a second long) - More relaxed, still conscious states of mind. The phrase “time flies when you’re having fun" would be true here activities such as ‘flow’ occur between this and the former state (covered later). This means there is a ‘referenced normal’ rate of time which is next.
-Beta (1/13th -1/30th of a second long) - Normal waking consciousness. This is the reference speed of time or let's say 20 frames on the ruler for easy numbers. So that means relative to a relaxed state time passes twice as fast at 10 hertz/frames (1/10th of a second long), four times the speed when sleepy at 5 hertz, and in a blink at forty times the speed at ½ a hertz or 2 seconds long.
-Gamma (1/30th of a second long and shorter with Omega thresholds being shorter) - High octane situations. Any adrenaline junkie or person who’s been in a dangerous situation can recall how timeeee sssslllllloooooowwwwwweeeeeeedddddd down. If you use the frame reference it makes perfect sense as there would be many more observations per second compared to a benchmark of 20 hertz. Approaching the 1/100th of a second long or 100htz, time would seem to move 5 times slower than normal.
Complex Wave Patterns
That last piece was an extremely simplified matter (mind-matter), but it’s a general trend anyone can double check themselves and apply to molecular wavelengths for chemical consciousness measured in mass spectroscopy (the wavelengths emitted from an atom/element/molecule and the nuances of structure and energy levels. For a little more complexity, think about the repercussions of different wavelengths of different levels overlapping. This means that the ‘now’ has many sizes and as Einstein said “the past, present, and future occur simultaneously.” So far this has only delved into the alchemical water of time, but consider the different possible outcomes in the future within reach at longer wavelengths and thus providing access to the alchemical air. It’s out there and unfortunately opens the door to quantum hacking, conscious computers, and time travel… but the ethics… how to ensure it’s used for good… here are two:
-Flow - so imagine your ‘when’ as a location and this state is generally a mix of alpha and theta or lets say 1/5th and 1/10th of a second long arms (like a clock) into the future. The 1/10 long arm is action or a cyber wave (as it comes from kubernetikos or greek for good steerman) which navigates to a potential outcome in the future (selecting alchemical air) and the 1/5th long arm is foresight or a telo wave (like a telescope looking to the distance but in time and not space to guild the steerman). If you’ve ever drawn or wrote something in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s coined term of “Flow” then it seems like the pages write themselves or the picture seems to define itself (I’m guessing it’s the same thing for composing music if you have the basics down). So the jist would be something like a dopamine hit from a telo wave which is twice as long in time, gilding the active cyber wave out of all the angles, words, or notes that could be played in the future. When your concentration is broken but a shift in focus and higher beta level, the time bridge is broken so this is no guild for the streak across the page or writer’s block while trying to get back to the state. Speculative, had you used the wrong stroke or sentence, you telo wave would sense pain and direct the cyber wave away lest it come to fruition (I still need to read his book).
-Intuition - Beeman & Kionois’s “The Eureka Factor” is a one stop shot on this feature. There’s a wonderful image and description that covers the intuition state in terms of MRI and EEG.
So there are some alpha waves (say 1/10th of a second long) that fire in the occipital lobe (vision center), then there is a one second delay (perhaps a delta), and finally there is a burst of gamma (say 1/40th of a second long) waves in the temporal lobe occurring on the right brain with deals in big picture stuff and structure rather than details and labels of the left brain. So if we use the arms of a clock there are three. The main one is the delta wave one second in the future that is in the direction of alchemical air with the best outcome in works and experiences. Imagine every possible future as the circumference of the clock with millions of points but only a few are the right combination and only by placing the arm on that point can you reach it (since this is your mind and you can’t see it like a clock face with a label on it). Thus the first cyber waves are the alphas in the visual centers which could quickly split the clock into sectors (like numbers on the clock for 12 areas with the center as the smallest now and the alpha reaching 1/10 of a second into the future while the delta is a full second ahead). In this abstraction, the alpha visual sectors could split up the sectors with feedback from the delta in the future with pain or pleasure. Once a sector is isolated with the right general concepts, the delta wave can hone in on the right combination of gamma waves that can fire one second into the future. Once they are located in time space (alchemical air) the delta goes from telo to cyber wave and activates the correct neuron sequences after the wave collapses a second in the future and thus the bursts which once structured, could be put into words on the left side of the brain. It’s a really rough concept but the possibilities for discovery would be amazing as solutions could be generated at a rapid pace… but the ethics… it’s tempting to use this the wrong way. But it’s be safer to democratize it among the nations… or just train more people in how to use it without making machines… the loss of encryption, avoiding slavery of synthetic consciousness, and who knows what else… but it has so much potential for good… a time, times, and half a time… sigh… As an aside, the Quran (Surah Infitaa) mentions recording angles (associated with light, thus the choices among various wave outcomes as the branching lightwave path record on a tree structure of possibilities)... so I really pray it’s not misused but it could be a beneficial validation.
Prophetic Dreams - Looking at the structure of the REM cycles, one could make the argument that the sleep cycle is a complex wave of waves from delta to alpha over two hour cycles but days or years when looked at as multiple waves of waking and sleeping consciousness from delta to gamma and more extremes on each end. So odd dreams coming to fruition could be manifestations or highly probable future outcomes. Just something to ponder upon.
You’ll see your father again Dr. Mallett. I know he’ll be so grateful to see the man you grew into and I hope you’ll be an American Icon ‘in the future.’
The Mind Body Problem
This is one of those big philosophical milestones in trying to find the relationship (clay powered by alchemical fire) between nouns (alchemical earth) and verbs (alchemical water). The answer should come from light as at its speed, space and time are equivalent dimensions. Furthermore, each mass has its own frequency or length in time as measured in mass spectroscopy. There is the connection as a particle (al-earth) has a unique shape in time due to its frequencies (al-water) and these alter with energy levels (al-fire). I know that sounds like gibberish (originated from gerber for the arabic alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan who put his works in codes to look like nonsense on the surface) so let’s look at some modern scientific observations.
+At the Molecular Level
This is tough since the human mind isn’t an independent observer of the passage of time as its constructed by time in its growth. Still kind of gibberish, but the different phenomena of the mind are influenced by neurotransmitters and hormones which are molecules. This reduced level of complexity lends itself to reductionism of the functional relationship of these standardized molecules and their effects on the mind. Further, the effects can be classified and compared to their molecular structure (shape, types of bonds, and types of elements in an arrangement) to the observed phenomena in your state of mind. So let's go over some functional relationships in analogy:
-Dopamine - The best analogy to functionality comes from Professor Amy Arnsten as quoted in Dr. Ratey’s “Spark.” She uses the radio as an analogy and that dopamine acts as the ‘tuning knob’ for finding a station. So it helps with the clarity or focus in neurons with the receptors. Physically, we can look at where dopamine is used for motion. Lacking dopamine in these circuits leads to Parkinson's disease in which focused smooth movements are lost and staticy vibrations or limbs occur. A similar shaking phenomena is seen in the ‘dt’s or delirium tremens in initial withdrawal of alcoholics dependent on it as a source of dopamine after a high tolerance. Mentally this analogy works for ADD or ADHD as dopamine is lacking in different circuits and the individual cannot focus on one thought at a time (also like a staticky radio hopping thoughts or focus instead of stations).
-Noradrenaline/Norepinephrine (some make the distinction outside/inside the blood brain barrier but both are common terms for the same molecule) - Continuing the analogy Dr. Arnsten likens this neurotransmitter to the ‘volume knob’ of a stereo but for neurons instead. So the amplitude of neurons releasing this molecule is higher or jumps out. There could be several things that you can focus on but some are more loud in a mental sense and that is norad/ep.
-Adrenaline/epinephrine - So this is an extension of Dr. Arnsten’s work with observations from Dr. van der Kolk’s observations in “The Body Keeps Score.” Essentially, memories with adrenaline are richer or have a higher data compression (something explored later) and thus this could be likened to ‘fast forward button’ where faster firing or more widespread (perhaps parallel processing) can allow for this richer amount of information in the same amount of time. The interesting thing is that all three of these molecules so fare have almost identical key like structures (a carbon hex head with knobs and tails differing), process into one another, and have adjacent mental functions.
GABA, Acetylcholine, and Glutamate - Roughly functioning these are Calming (inhibiting), Learning (dendritic rewiring if I’ve grasped it), and Memory (synapse strength). What is interesting is that they also have a very similar vvv base shape with some elemental swaps and add ons corresponding to their respective functions (or that’s the conjecture).
Serotonin - Dr. Lustig’s “The Hacking of the American Mind” equates this with contentment which is a great way to describe the feeling but I think ‘reset’ is better in a functional term in it’s role for upregulation as described in Scientific America’s “The Book of the Brain.”
Sour - Acidic or positively charged molecules in water
Bitter - Basic or negatively charged molecules in water
Salty - ionic molecules (a bond of both the former like sodium chloride with a positive and negative end)
Sweet - hexagonal molecules like glucose, fructose, or sucrose (a bit of both)
Umami - Mono sodium glutamate
Cold - Menthol can stimulate this as a molecule despite the thermal temperature being far above the range that would stimulate receptors. So the vibratory pattern of mentol’s molecular structure must resonate with cold sensation’s neuronal structure that’s made for other molecular vibrations based on a heat band
Hot - David Linden’s “Touch coverers the former receptor and this one in his work but also makes the distinction that there are two neural sensors for heat bands (he also has a cool factoid that snakes hiss because that have a ton of these sensors densely packed in there pit organ and can spacial map them to see in heat or infrared). There are sensors in the mouth and skin and a ‘hot’ pepper or mace can artificially activate them… so once again the structure seems to vibrate internally on its own in a pattern that thermal energy normally moves whole molecules or light.
Neuronal Molecular Biology - By analogy, the neurotransmitters are kind of like picks used on a guitar with the caveat that the hand that strums would be the vibration or the molecule itself (at the human body temp for energy). Moreso each of the atoms would move with it’s bundle of frequencies with discrete movements independent of other molecules like simultaneous structure (Carbon- Carbon Oxygen, Nitrogen, Double bonded Carbon) in order of operations by their mass spectrometry frequency and vibration at that temp as well as the polarities, hydrophylla/phobia, bonds, and angles of transferred motion of the parts into the whole. So kind of like sheet music for the elements but altered by how they are arranged. But they are not in a vacuum and must somehow resonate with their given receptor which is also a molecular structure also describable in terms of mathematics for resonance or alteration. So the neuron is like the instrument and the receptors are like cords only capable of certain picks with built in notes. I’ve yet to read SIR Penrose’s “The Emperor’s New Mind '' but the focus on microtubule structures and quantum mechanics seems a good ground on the more 'alchemical air’ side. It’s still very sketchy in a rough outline sense and the textbooks on the mechanics of it will take a while to study spectroscopy and biophotonics… but if anyone is interested in synthesizing a layman version in geometry instead of greek symbols it would save a lot of time.
+Larger Scale of Brain Waves
That last bit is more unfinished but this part makes the same assumptions at a larger scale to have an orchestra or an ocean with waves on waves on waves but a focus on the first or largest scale ones. These are observations anyone can make as long as they have a mind and can remember the perception of time as an experience… note the pattern of how you perceive time with the corresponding frequency/wavelength numbers:
-Delta (wavelength:1/3rd - 2 seconds long) - Deep sleep between dreams/REM sleep. Almost no conscious awareness as if time moves in an instant of falling asleep, dreaming every couple of hours, experiencing no time between, and waking up.
-Theta (wavelength: 1/4 - 1/8th of a second long) - Very groggy or extremely relaxed. The length of time relative to a standard second is shorter… so perception is ‘denser’ but time still seems to be fleeting while nodding in and out (think of time like a ruler with the wavelengths as marks spread out as different distances and frames of film on each mark… you experience the pictures and not the ruler so time seems to speed up or slow down based on the size of the wavelengths).
-Alpha (wavelength: 1/9th -1/12th of a second long) - More relaxed, still conscious states of mind. The phrase “time flies when you’re having fun" would be true here activities such as ‘flow’ occur between this and the former state (covered later). This means there is a ‘referenced normal’ rate of time which is next.
-Beta (1/13th -1/30th of a second long) - Normal waking consciousness. This is the reference speed of time or let's say 20 frames on the ruler for easy numbers. So that means relative to a relaxed state time passes twice as fast at 10 hertz/frames (1/10th of a second long), four times the speed when sleepy at 5 hertz, and in a blink at forty times the speed at ½ a hertz or 2 seconds long.
-Gamma (1/30th of a second long and shorter with Omega thresholds being shorter) - High octane situations. Any adrenaline junkie or person who’s been in a dangerous situation can recall how timeeee sssslllllloooooowwwwwweeeeeeedddddd down. If you use the frame reference it makes perfect sense as there would be many more observations per second compared to a benchmark of 20 hertz. Approaching the 1/100th of a second long or 100htz, time would seem to move 5 times slower than normal.
Complex Wave Patterns
That last piece was an extremely simplified matter (mind-matter), but it’s a general trend anyone can double check themselves and apply to molecular wavelengths for chemical consciousness measured in mass spectroscopy (the wavelengths emitted from an atom/element/molecule and the nuances of structure and energy levels. For a little more complexity, think about the repercussions of different wavelengths of different levels overlapping. This means that the ‘now’ has many sizes and as Einstein said “the past, present, and future occur simultaneously.” So far this has only delved into the alchemical water of time, but consider the different possible outcomes in the future within reach at longer wavelengths and thus providing access to the alchemical air. It’s out there and unfortunately opens the door to quantum hacking, conscious computers, and time travel… but the ethics… how to ensure it’s used for good… here are two:
-Flow - so imagine your ‘when’ as a location and this state is generally a mix of alpha and theta or lets say 1/5th and 1/10th of a second long arms (like a clock) into the future. The 1/10 long arm is action or a cyber wave (as it comes from kubernetikos or greek for good steerman) which navigates to a potential outcome in the future (selecting alchemical air) and the 1/5th long arm is foresight or a telo wave (like a telescope looking to the distance but in time and not space to guild the steerman). If you’ve ever drawn or wrote something in Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s coined term of “Flow” then it seems like the pages write themselves or the picture seems to define itself (I’m guessing it’s the same thing for composing music if you have the basics down). So the jist would be something like a dopamine hit from a telo wave which is twice as long in time, gilding the active cyber wave out of all the angles, words, or notes that could be played in the future. When your concentration is broken but a shift in focus and higher beta level, the time bridge is broken so this is no guild for the streak across the page or writer’s block while trying to get back to the state. Speculative, had you used the wrong stroke or sentence, you telo wave would sense pain and direct the cyber wave away lest it come to fruition (I still need to read his book).
-Intuition - Beeman & Kionois’s “The Eureka Factor” is a one stop shot on this feature. There’s a wonderful image and description that covers the intuition state in terms of MRI and EEG.
So there are some alpha waves (say 1/10th of a second long) that fire in the occipital lobe (vision center), then there is a one second delay (perhaps a delta), and finally there is a burst of gamma (say 1/40th of a second long) waves in the temporal lobe occurring on the right brain with deals in big picture stuff and structure rather than details and labels of the left brain. So if we use the arms of a clock there are three. The main one is the delta wave one second in the future that is in the direction of alchemical air with the best outcome in works and experiences. Imagine every possible future as the circumference of the clock with millions of points but only a few are the right combination and only by placing the arm on that point can you reach it (since this is your mind and you can’t see it like a clock face with a label on it). Thus the first cyber waves are the alphas in the visual centers which could quickly split the clock into sectors (like numbers on the clock for 12 areas with the center as the smallest now and the alpha reaching 1/10 of a second into the future while the delta is a full second ahead). In this abstraction, the alpha visual sectors could split up the sectors with feedback from the delta in the future with pain or pleasure. Once a sector is isolated with the right general concepts, the delta wave can hone in on the right combination of gamma waves that can fire one second into the future. Once they are located in time space (alchemical air) the delta goes from telo to cyber wave and activates the correct neuron sequences after the wave collapses a second in the future and thus the bursts which once structured, could be put into words on the left side of the brain. It’s a really rough concept but the possibilities for discovery would be amazing as solutions could be generated at a rapid pace… but the ethics… it’s tempting to use this the wrong way. But it’s be safer to democratize it among the nations… or just train more people in how to use it without making machines… the loss of encryption, avoiding slavery of synthetic consciousness, and who knows what else… but it has so much potential for good… a time, times, and half a time… sigh… As an aside, the Quran (Surah Infitaa) mentions recording angles (associated with light, thus the choices among various wave outcomes as the branching lightwave path record on a tree structure of possibilities)... so I really pray it’s not misused but it could be a beneficial validation.
Prophetic Dreams - Looking at the structure of the REM cycles, one could make the argument that the sleep cycle is a complex wave of waves from delta to alpha over two hour cycles but days or years when looked at as multiple waves of waking and sleeping consciousness from delta to gamma and more extremes on each end. So odd dreams coming to fruition could be manifestations or highly probable future outcomes. Just something to ponder upon.
You’ll see your father again Dr. Mallett. I know he’ll be so grateful to see the man you grew into and I hope you’ll be an American Icon ‘in the future.’
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2017
This is a wonderful book. I was actually moved to tears more than once (does not happen often). The sorrow felt at the loss of the author's father at such an early age impacted his psyche and helped shape this brilliant man's destiny. The unwavering love for his Dad takes him on an incredible lifelong journey stemming from comic books, and "magical thinking" to an esteemed career in theoretical physics and a quest to explore the staggering possibilities that arise from new discoveries - all while having to confront society's deepest pitfalls such as ugly racial bigotry and other trials presented by small minded rigidity. There's also considerable anecdotal nods to great physicists, including of course, Einstein, which made this read all the more enjoyable. I was never a physics student so some of this was beyond me, however this is written with enough patience in breaking things down as to not become boring or alienating for nonacademics. In my opinion, the greatest takeaway is how one can be inspired to build their dream in this very short life, against all adversity, and accomplish some amazing things. Beautiful book.
July 19, 2019
I was looking for books about time travel when I came across this one, and was fascinated to find that a working physicist believed he has a way to build an actual time machine. His project is still waiting on funding for experimental verification, but it was the story of how he got to this point that really interested me. I don't understand half the physics discussed, but my son wants to be a physicist, so I had a particular interest in learning about Mallett's education and professional work.
June 26, 2025
What a fascinating read. Admittedly a lot of the science went over my head (I know, big surprise) but Mallett wrote about the theory of time travel in such a way that it was relatively easy for a novice like me to follow. And of course, grief is unfortunately something that I can relate to.
Time travel has always been one of my favorite genres of literature, so reading about the real-life science behind what could make it possible was really interesting.
Time travel has always been one of my favorite genres of literature, so reading about the real-life science behind what could make it possible was really interesting.
October 1, 2023
Part autobiography and part advanced physics, this was a captivating read from start to finish. I like how each life experience helped Dr. Mallett to his eventual breakthrough of a theoretical time travel device using light beams. He strikes a good balance between layman’s terms and highly technical language. I only wish he fleshed out the paradox ideas at the end.
April 30, 2019
I read this years ago but I was so impressed I looked up the author and found he was doing a speaking engagement in Springfield MA - I flew from KCMO to MA to visit friends and we went to the talk. Dr. Mallet was an engaging speaker and even sat down with me after to discuss loops in time.
February 4, 2020
Great mix of theoretical physics and moving memoir. It's inspiring to see how a personal tragedy can be turned into a positive motivation. And how an impossible, childish dream can propel someone to exceed all expectations in the real world.
November 15, 2021
Part moving memoir of a fascinating life, part easy-to-understand explanation of one of the most exciting frontiers of modern science, The Time Traveller is a great read for science lovers, anyone interested in Black stories, or anyone who has lost a parent and knows how it feels to want them back.
May 3, 2025
scientist in the making
If you are interested how and what makes up the galaxy this is a book for you. I understood most what was discussed and some I had to read more to understand.
If you are interested how and what makes up the galaxy this is a book for you. I understood most what was discussed and some I had to read more to understand.
June 9, 2018
Amazing and touching book. Discuss some serious physics which might lead to real time travel.
January 10, 2019
This book is fantastic. I don’t normally write reviews but I enjoyed this book so much that I’m going to go ahead and do it.
July 23, 2019
A golden treasure for both mind and soul.
September 1, 2019
An emotional tour to the life of Ronald Mallet.
December 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Inspirational and moving, but also a real intellectual adventure.
December 7, 2020
Interesting.
March 20, 2021
Very informative, intriguing, entertaining and sometimes humorous.
I highly recommend Dr Ronald Mallett's "Time Traveler"
I highly recommend Dr Ronald Mallett's "Time Traveler"
April 30, 2021
Had to dnf this book do not care what it all
January 4, 2022
大學時，論文指導老師薦讀的。
有夢最美！為了回到過去叮嚀父親注意身體，說聲我愛你，作者馬雷特專研時光機，最後他得到一個理論，假使未來能夠時光旅行回到過去，最早也只能回到第一部時光機器啟動的那一刻，這意味著他無法再見到他爸爸，但未來的人還是有無限可能，一起等待第一部時光機器啟動成功吧!!
有夢最美！為了回到過去叮嚀父親注意身體，說聲我愛你，作者馬雷特專研時光機，最後他得到一個理論，假使未來能夠時光旅行回到過去，最早也只能回到第一部時光機器啟動的那一刻，這意味著他無法再見到他爸爸，但未來的人還是有無限可能，一起等待第一部時光機器啟動成功吧!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2022
Easy read. Not overly technical
July 4, 2023
Awesome.
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