Just a question of time

WHY TIME FLIES — A MOSTLY SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION

by Alan Burdick (Text, $40) Reviewed by Alex Robertson

Have you ever wondered where all that time went? Why is it that great parties are gone in an instant? An absorbing film is over in minutes? Does time slow down during stressful events such as a car crash? Does time speed up as we get older?

Alan Burdick attempts to explain all these things and more. From circadian rhythms to absolute time as described by consistent and predictable atomic decay, from the subjective perception of passing time to the objective recording of it under scientific observation.

To readers of The New Yorker, Burdick’s style is instantly recognisable: informal, informed and indefatigably researched. He peppers his text with anecdotes, personally experienced and told during his many interviews that illustrate his topic of the moment. His wit and humour keep the narrative rolling with wry observations such as the most accurate clock being printed on paper and a number of child-eyed views courtesy of his twin sons.

It is comforting to think that all matter is constrained by time and that even pond-dwellers are governed by the rising and setting of the sun. But do the simplest of living organisms get wrapped up in defining the philosophical questions such as when is now?

Burdick’s global search has taken years to produce and gives us an insight into how time works and how we perceive its passing. And, like any comprehensive and thought-provoking work, it poses as many questions as it attempts to answer.

Ultimately, we are all concerned with our own mortality and the knowledge that once we have left, time keeps marching on; Burdick uses conversations with his father and playtime on the beach with his sons by way of illustration in his sublime final chapter.

Perhaps it is the desire to leave a legacy. With this book, it could be said that Burdick has left us with something to mull over for all time.