Time

The Dream of Killing Chronos

By: Guido Tonelli, Edward Williams (Translator)

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Hardcover | 4 September 2026 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
208 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.84 x 14.22 x 2.54

Hardcover

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What is time? Does it exist? Can it be stopped? Can time's arrow be reversed? Can we ever free ourselves from the seemingly inexorable flow of time? Chronos is a mystery, and not only for us: it was a mystery for our distant ancestors too.

In this book, Guido Tonelli guides us along the path to understanding a reality that is very different from what we believe it to be. Modern science allows us to explore the deepest recesses of the universe, and when we observe the giant objects which inhabit the cosmos over great distances – galaxies and clusters of galaxies – time acquires characteristics which are quite different from those that we are used to. The same happens when we analyse the phenomena which occur on a sub-nuclear scale. In these two worlds which are so far apart from one other, the harmonious and constant flow of time which has enchanted us for millennia twists, melts and shatters. Space and time appear as an indissoluble couple – not some abstract concept but a material substance which occupies the entire universe, which vibrates, oscillates and is in a constant process of change.

With Tonelli's erudite assistance, we discover the long history of time, its violent birth and strange evolution. In our imaginations, we travel to terrifying places where time stops and explore the close link which binds time to energy. This is a bewildering journey that forces us to discard our preconceptions and abandon all certainty, a journey in which myth, art and philosophy will come to our aid when our minds begin to falter.

About the Author

Guido Tonelli is a prize-winning physicist and one of the leaders in the discovery of the Higgs boson. He is Professor of General Physics at the University of Pisa and a physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. His many publications include the bestselling books Genesis: The Story of How Everything Began and Matter: The Magnificent Illusion.

Industry Reviews

"Tonelli pays warm, poetic tribute to our very human relationship with time, from the mythology of ancient Greece to contemporary physics and cosmology. An extraordinary achievement and a remarkable book."
Jim Baggott, author of Discordance: The Troubled History of the Hubble Constant

"Does time flow or stand still? Does it exist? Can we do without it? Can Chronos be killed?’
La Nazione

"A journey of adventure with surprising discoveries and profound insights."
La Voce e Il Tempo

"The science described by Tonelli succeeds in showing us the future."
Il Messagger

"Guido Tonelli leads us along the torturous gateway to understanding worlds dominated by relativistic effects, where there is a future that arrives before the past and indeed creates it."
Coast Magazine

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