The Order of Time

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What to expect

Winner of Audiobook of the Year at The Specsavers National Book Awards 2018

Penguin presents the audio edition of The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, read by Benedict Cumberbatch.

The bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics takes us on an enchanting journey to discover the meaning of time

Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe.

With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery, inviting us to imagine a world where time is in us and we are not in time.

'A global superstar. . . Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation' - Channel 4 News

Critics Review

  • I consider Carlo Rovelli to be a poet as much as a physicist. . . Everybody should read this book

    Es Devlin
  • Not only a lesson on physics but also philosophy, poetry, biology, even music. . . After guiding us through the cosmos in his previous books, now Rovelli undertakes a journey that begins and ends with ourselves and the discovery of the greatest mystery: what is time?

    La Repubblica
  • Do we exist in time or is it time that exists in us? To find out, we embark on a journey out of time with Carlo Rovelli, who knows how to speak to his readers’ minds without ever overlooking their hearts

    Corriere della Sera
  • The physicist transforming how we see the universe

    Financial Times
  • A global superstar. . . Professor Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation

    Channel 4 News
  • The new Hawking. . . His writing is luminous

    The Times

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