Simon Ings

How time vanishes: the more we study it, the more protean it seems

It’s space, it’s rhythm, it’s a myth, says Joseph Mazur: time is stranger than we can yet comprehend

The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Anaximander with a sundial (Roman mosaic, 3rd century). Alamy
  • Comments

  • The Clock Mirage: Our Myth of Measured Time

    Joseph Mazur

    Yale, pp. 254, £20

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Iain Macwhirter

How Humza Yousaf could survive

Did Humza Yousaf think it through? When he decided, late on Wednesday night, to pull the plug on the Green-SNP coalition arrangement, did he game-out the consequences? That is the question political Scotland is asking this morning as Yousaf’s job hangs, by common agreement, in the balance 24 hours after he unilaterally ended the Bute House cooperation

Because you read about mathematics

Also by Simon Ings

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in