Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality [Paperback]

Ronald L. Mallett (Author), Bruce Henderson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2007

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Physicist Mallett's theory that "space and time can be manipulated" to make time travel possible has gained national media attention. His research and theories flow nicely through this easy-to-read autobiography. Mallett, one of the first African-American Ph.D.s in theoretical physics, has lived under the shadow of his father's death when he was 10. His struggles with poverty, racism and depression, coupled with his extreme drive to succeed at building a time machine and so see his beloved father again are inspirational. Mallett's (and bestselling author Henderson's) simple prose makes for clear and concise explanations of the science involved. The author comes across as a warm, inspired, driven, troubled man who is generous in his descriptions of others and must be an excellent teacher at the University of Connecticut, where he is a physics professor. Mallett describes the path of his education and research into black holes and circulating lasers, which he believes drag time into a closed loop suitable for time travel. Due to the basic level of the science content and the focus on Mallett's personal quest, this book is best suited for a general rather than a science-leaning audience, or as an inspirational text for aspiring young scientists. B&w photos. (Nov. 14)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Ronald L. Mallett, Ph.D., served in the U.S. Air Force for four years. He received his B.S. in Physics in 1969, M.S. in 1970, and Ph.D. in physics in 1973, all lfrom Pennsylvania State University. In 1975 he joined the faculty at the University of Connecticut, where he is a professor of theoretical physics. He has published many papers on theoretical physics in professional journals. His time travel research has been featured in an hour-long TV special, "The World's First Time Machine," as well as publications as diverse as The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, New Scientist, The Village Voice, The Boston Globe and Pravda.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (November 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156858363X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568583631
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking the time barrier..., March 26, 2007

By 

Steve Reina (Troy Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality (Hardcover)

"The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, nor all your piety can lure it back nor your tears wash out a word of it." Jon Donne.

If Prof. Ron Mallett has his way, the words of Jon Donne will be a quaint aphorism that people used to say. The reason Mallett says this is because he believes that the time barrier can be broken and that -- someday -- people will have the technology to travel into the past.

Almost immediately on announcing his speculations, Mallett became the topic of intense media interest including a Learning Channel special and great media coverage. And this is rightly so because the back story of Mallett's motivation -- so ably told in this book -- is itself so compelling.

In 1955, while still a child, Ron Mallett lost his father who died of heart failure at the age of 33. Loving his Dad as intensely as he did, Mallett began to dream of breaking the time barrier to rejoin his father just to tell him "I love you."

Just as everyone can easily connect with Mallett's motivation, mostly everyone will find themselves somewhat befuddled by the science behind Mallett's speculations. This isn't because he doesn't do a good job of explaining himself, but rather simply because scientific explanations typically tend to tax comprehension.

That being said, his theory is an ingenious one: that just as gravity can used to distort time, so can concentrated light. In this way, Mallett must now consider it the sweetest serendipity that he worked in the private sector with lasers for a formative part of his early career. In this way, he became immediately acquianted with the very device he intends to employ in his time travel device.

The typical time travel scenerios that have been set out involve a radical twisting of space. If we were bugs living on a sheet of Christmas wrapping paper, our travel from one end of the sheet to the other would be greatly speeded if we could somehow get the paper from the ends to connect with each other. And indeed, this is what the tradition theories of time travel all propose: that somehow -- whether it's through cosmic strings as speculated by J Richard Gott or black holes as speculated by Kip Thorne -- a force so great is created that space is litterally forced to warp back on itself.

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, Mallett's theories will probably face the same fate at those of Gott and Thorne respecting time travel by people into the past...failure. However, having opened by quoting Donne, it's perhaps best to close by quoting Theodore Roosevelt who said:

"Pity not those who have failed but those who live in that grey twilight that knows neither success nor failure."

By dint of genius, Mallett -- ultimately successful or not -- has irrevocably taken himself out of that "grey twilight" and us with him...if only in our hearts and imaginations.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant Scientific Insights, November 14, 2006

By 

Brian OMalley (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality (Hardcover)

Dr. Mallett must be an extraordinary teacher. While the other reviewers are correct that his personal history is deeply compelling, the scientific insights that he explains in chapters 11 and 12 are breathtaking in their elegance. Dr. Mallett's theory is the complement to the 1919 verification by Arthur Eddington of Eistein's prediction regarding the deflection of light rays by the curved space around the sun. Dr. Mallett's insight is that Einstein's theory shows that light, which does not have mass, has energy and that energy could also produce a gravitational field. If that gravitational field twists space, then time gets twisted. Eddington showed that strong gravity bends light, then Dr. Mallett theorizes that intense light should affect gravity. Beautiful symmnetry. With the recent advent of small, relatively inexpensive femto-second lasers with power outputs in terawatts, Dr Mallett's hypothesis should be testable very soon. Good luck Dr. Mallett, your father has truly reached across time.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Touching, interesting, inspirational, but a little dry., January 11, 2007

By 

Scott T. Harker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Traveler: A Scientist's Personal Mission to Make Time Travel a Reality (Hardcover)

I heard Ronald Mallett on George Norry's show, and I thought he was fascinating. I ordered the book that night. I finally got a chance to read it. The book covers Mallett's life from childhood to present. It is a study of a man's life, how his beliefs and opinions were formed, and how his studies led him to his theories on time travel.

Although I found the book very touching in soma parts (I have a son myself), as well as very interesting, I did find a drawback that kept this from being a 5-star book; the science. Mallett goes into some deep scientific discussions when he explains certain facts and theories of physics. This is pretty basis stuff, but for the laymen, well, it's easy to get bogged down in it. I guess he felt that it was necessary to include his reasoning and his explanations for all of these things, but I thought that they ultimately took away from the overall enjoyment of the book.

Still, the book was a good read. It's fairly easy to get through it in a few nights of reading. I hope to hear Dr. Mallett on the George Norry show again, as I think he's a very interesting and inspirational guy. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of time travel. Mallett gives some pretty compelling evidence, and it's cool stuff. Just be prepared to skip a paragraph or two when it becomes a dry physics lesson.