Does time really flow, or is that simply an illusion? Did time have a beginning? What does it mean to say that time has a direction? Does space have boundaries, or is it infinite? Are our space and time unique, or could there be other, parallel worlds with their own space and time? Do space and time really exist, or are they simply the constructions of our minds? Robin Le Poidevin provides a clear, witty, and stimulating introduction to these deep questions, and many other mind-boggling puzzles and paradoxes. He gives a vivid sense of the difficulties raised by our ordinary ideas about space and time, but he also gives us the basis to think about these problems independently, avoiding large amounts of jargon and technicality. No prior knowledge of philosophy is required to enjoy this book. The universe might seem very different after reading it.
Author
Robin Le Poidevin (born 1962) is a Professor of Metaphysics at the University of Leeds whose interests include the nature and experience of time, agnosticism, and philosophy of religion. He joined the Department of Philosophy at Leeds in 1989 having completed postgraduate studies at both Oxford and Cambridge, obtaining his MA from the former and his PhD from the latter.He is also the current president of The British Society for the Philosophy of Religion. From 1998 to 2001 he was Head of Department, and in 2000 was appointed to a personal chair in Metaphysics. He is a member of the Centre for Philosophy of Religion, the Centre for Metaphysics and Mind, and is the Editor of Religious Studies, and Past President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion. In 2007 he gave the Stanton Lectures in the Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge, and in 2012 was Alan Richardson Fellow in Theology at the University of Durham.
