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  • © 2017

The Dark Arrow of Time

A Scientific Novel

Authors:

  • Blends adventure, love, suspense, magic, pathos, and mystery in a rich scientific novel full of unexpected twists and turns
  • Offers new scientific ideas on interplanetary voyages and time travel
  • Suggests an alternative theory on antimatter which holds that traveling in time is possible
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Science and Fiction (SCIFICT)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-v
  2. Very Fidgety, the Fat Lady Next to Him

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 1-6
  3. They Were Flying Over Gentle Crimson Hills

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 7-12
  4. Helias Slept Fitfully

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 13-20
  5. Why Did You Do that?

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 21-32
  6. The Next Morning It Rained

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 33-42
  7. Seated Behind His Enormous Desk

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 43-57
  8. A Sort of Autumn Had Arrived

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 59-70
  9. As They Came Closer to Mars

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 83-90
  10. Nothing Moved in the Silent Valley

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 101-108
  11. Are They High Enough Yet?

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 115-124
  12. Helias Had Sat Down on the Step

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 149-149
  13. Everything Had Ended Well

    • Massimo Villata
    Pages 151-152
  14. Back Matter

    Pages 153-163

About this book

This riveting scientific novel combines adventure, love, suspense, magic, pathos, and mystery in a carefully woven plot that is full of unexpected twists and turns. The author is an astrophysicist who has developed an alternative theory, which holds that traveling in time is possible. Time is, in fact, the real protagonist of the novel and of the intrigue surrounding the attempt to seize the secret of Time’s other arrow, the dark arrow normally hidden from us, which points back at our past. The underlying premise is that antimatter is nothing more than common matter moving backwards in time. The justification for this interpretation has been with us for some time, “hiding in plain sight” within Maxwell’s equations, the Lorentz transformations, the CPT theorem of relativistic quantum mechanics, and Feynman diagrams. While the science underlying the narrative is explained whenever necessary, sometimes with the aid of simple mathematical formulas, these scientific asides account for only a small part of the book, which will appeal to a wide audience, including readers who are far from being science buffs.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, INAF, Pino Torinese (TO), Italy

    Massimo Villata

About the author

Massimo Villata is an Italian astrophysicist and science fiction writer. He graduated from the University of Turin with honors in physics and at the end of his PhD won a competition at the Observatory of Turin, where he still works today. His main field of research is extragalactic astronomy. He specializes in the study of blazars (extremely energetic and variable active galactic nuclei), and since 2000 he has been President of the International Consortium of Optical and Radio Telescopes (WEBT – Whole Earth Blazar Telescope). He is the author of more than 300 scientific publications and also employs his knoweldge in the writing of science fiction novels under the pseudonym Max Wells, inspired by the famous Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell. He terms this genre “the scientific novel”.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 14.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access