Time Travel and Warp Drives: A Scientific Guide to Shortcuts through Time and Space

Credit: The University of Chicago Press

This exploration of the science around time travel and warp drives is timely, given the recent did-they-didn’t-they controversy surrounding neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light. The concept of travelling faster than the speed of light – something of a faux pas if you like to obey the fundamental laws of the universe as we know them – is a recurring theme in this book; if you can beat light, you can travel backwards in time.

The authors are well placed as guides to exotic phenomena including wormholes, warp bubbles and parallel worlds. With decades of physics teaching between them, their explanations are succinct and enhanced by clear diagrams. Mathematics is impressively sparse throughout the main body of the book given the subject matter, though appendices expanding on the concepts in the chapters provide a little more ‘meat’ for those who are interested.

This is not a light read, but it’s ideal for science fiction fans who want to know just how (un)likely time travel is, and rewarding to those interested in accessible explanations of tricky concepts such as special relativity.