I bought this book when it was first published. I am not an especially knowledgeable individual on the subject of theoretical physics, but I could follow most of Dr. Barbour's discussion. The primary component about Dr. Barbour's theories regarding time is that it is an illusion. He uses Xeno's paradox to illustrate that motion is impossible and therefore illusory and if time is based upon motion, that it must therefore also be illusory. That's the book in a nutshell, but there is much more discussion and presentation of the work of Mach and other theorists. I found it to be a fascinating read and highly recommend it. My copy is dog-eared and starting to fall apart, so I will likely be looking for a new copy soon, if for no other reason than to preserve it for future generations. ( )

I got interested in this book after attending a seminar given by Barbour at the University of New Brunswick.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/667713/the-end-of-time-julian-barbour ( )

Didn't read all of this, off kilter and idiosyncratic, bordering on ' crank ' maybe ( )

In this wonderful book, Barbour (a physicist) attempts to explain what time is.

The book isn't aimed at (or likely to be fun for) the general audience. It's aimed at people who took at least a little university physics and who remember some of it, or people who took at least some philosophy of physics and who remember some of that. It's also aimed at people who are willing to really bend their brains in order to follow the author.

Reading The End of Time reminds you that Einstein's revolution was, in part, thought up purely from the armchair. That is, it was partly just doing philosophy. ("If we take for granted that any observer, moving at any velocity, should nonetheless be able to discover the objective speed of light, then...") If there is going to be another revolution around our idea of time, it will also be partly philosophical -- and Barbour makes an exciting case for his vision being a part of such a revolution. ( )

Didn't read all of this, off kilter and idiosyncratic, bordering on ' crank ' maybe ( )