The Science of Time

Time is the one thing everyone believes they understand until someone asks them to explain it. Then we all just stare at the wall, blinking, as if it's about to give a TED Talk. Philosophers call time "a measure of change," physicists call it "a coordinate dimension," and the rest of us call it "that thing we keep losing track of."

You can't see it, touch it, or taste it, but you can definitely feel it-especially when you realize your 1990s memories are now historical documents. Time is both friend and assassin. It grows your plants, bakes your bread, and then sneakily sags your face. It gives wisdom and bad knees in equal measure. It's the universe's most efficient recycling system and also the most relentless performance review.

In this book, we will explore how time works - or at least, how it pretends to work. We'll start with the physics: clocks, relativity, and why spacetime is less of a straight line and more of a pretzel that refuses to stop bending. Then we'll wade into biology - how your brain measures moments, why adrenaline slows time down, and why boredom stretches it like an emotional rubber band. We'll also visit psychology, memory, culture, and that weird zone where time becomes philosophy's favorite punchline.

By the end, you'll know why Einstein said time is relative (translation: it runs faster when you're late), why you're always nostalgic for simpler days that were actually terrible, and why waiting for Wi-Fi is a modern test of spiritual endurance.