Modern Physics Vol 2: Time
A word of warning: If you thought Space was complicated, wait until you start thinking about Time. As Cypher says in The Matrix , 'Hang onto your hat, Dorothy, because Kansas is going bye-bye.' Most scientists will point out that what we call 'time' is merely a way of rationalising the implications of the Second Law of Thermodynamics – the famous one about Entropy tending to a maximum. This means that the energy in a closed system will spread itself out evenly over time. In layman's terms, it means that complex systems inevitably break down into simpler, more stable elements, as the energy involved in holding them together dissipates. Elaborate structures decompose into their component parts. A pint glass dropped onto a solid surface (such as the tiled concrete floor of this pub) will shatter into a hundred pieces. The energy stored during the process of creating the object is released in a small 'explosion' of kinetic energy (as the pieces fly around the pu