Science fiction writers get a lot of mileage driving their characters through the space-time continuum. In most cases, the protagonist manages it without the benefit of a TARDIS (I really need to get one of those). But, what is time? Physicists know how to measure it (time as a metric, i.e., a clock), what direction it flows (Arrow of Time) and how to bend it (General Relativity). I go over each of these in my latest set of articles of Science for Fiction (S4F) in Abandoned Towers Magazine Blog.
Part I Classical ideas of Time
Part II Modern theories
But for the record, none of them actually tells us what time is. Most ideas on that subject reside in the realm of speculation. And who are best at speculating? Writers and readers of science fiction—of course.
Part III The best ways to plausibly get time travel into fiction and to make it. (I will get this out soon)
