The Order of Time

Okay. I recently finished The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. It’s a nonfiction book, which I generally don’t read, but whenever there is anything concerning Time and Space, I find myself inherently interested. That being said, Science in any form is not my forte, so I think Time and Space are fascinating, but sometimes I get overwhelmed reading about either. Needless to say, I was a little nervous picking up The Order of Time, but curiosity got to me and I just had to dive in.

Oh boy am I glad I did. This book is fascinating! Rovelli takes a deeper look into the idea of Time (and also Space, because physics) with such a philosophical mindset, for a while I couldn’t tell if it was a book on physics or a book on philosophy. Short story, it is both. And goodness gracious is it beautifully written. It’s been a while since I’ve included quotes in any of my reviews, but there are two that I just HAVE to share.

“We observe the universe from within it, interacting with a minuscule portion of the innumerable variables of the cosmos.” (pg 154)

This wasn’t the first line in the book that made me still for a moment, but it was the first one that I simply couldn’t pass without writing down. It puts life into such an interesting perspective. A lot of things that evaluate the universe tend to force us (or me) to look at life a little differently, simply because of the vastness of the universe and how inconclusive our knowledge about it is. So yes. I loved the above quote.

Also…

“And we begin to see that we are time. We are this space, this clearing opened by the traces of memory inside the connections between our neurons. We are memory. We are nostalgia. We are longing for a future that will not come.” (pg 202)

I mean… come on. That is gorgeous. If that isn’t poetic prose, I’m not sure what is.

Now imagine this: an entire book that is as thoughtful and poetic and philosophical. That’s the entirety of The Order of Time. Naturally, there were a few times in which I was a bit confused (particularly the physics heavy sections), but that is to be expected when a non-physicist reads a physics book! In any case, I feel like things were explained very well, as well as concluded and recapped very well (there is an entire recap chapter that was incredibly helpful yet somehow managed to not feel redundant). Basically, what I’m trying to say is that The Order of Time is an incredibly written book. It is fascinating, and I will definitely be rereading it in order to gain a better understanding of the contents inside. Also, I feel like it is something that can help fantasy/sci-fi writers in world building. So there’s that too. I will definitely be looking to read Carlo Rovelli’s other books as well.

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

My Next Read:

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young