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Under The Microscope

The River of Time

THE RIVER OF TIME by Igor D Novikov; Cambridge University Press, 1998; 275 pp; $40.55

Reviewed by Craig Marshall

One of the most fascinating areas of scientific investigation is cosmology; the study of the origins and end of the Universe. The questions cosmologists ask are almost theological in nature. From where did we come? Where are we going and how long will it take to get there? Such fundamental questions are almost cliched and certainly have been lampooned, but the search for genuine and satisfactory answers exercises many minds.

Time is tricky concept, simple at first sight, but surprisingly difficult to properly understand. Novikov discusses the contemporary understanding of time and offers some interesting speculations as to possibility of time travel and the harnessing of black holes. But this book is a great deal more than a description of current cosmology. It is also a description of Igor Novikov's life and tells of Novikov's colleagues and the way that friendships and animosities affect the form of scientific theory. Some of the most entertaining parts of the book are Novikov's descriptions of his relations with other leading theorists, among them Kip Thorne and Yakov Zeldovich, and such superstars as Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking. The description of Novikov's cavalier treatment of Andrei Sakharov and his "strange eyes" at their first meeting is very entertaining. More affecting is the account of how Thorne and others arranged for the successful treatment of Novikov's serious heart condition.

But The River of Time is more than a discussion of recent cosmology and cosmologists. The book is a translation of a Russian equivalent with some additions for the non-Russian audience. In many ways, the discussion of science in the USSR is as fascinating as the cosmology in the book. Most of us are subject to bureaucratic idiocy in our lives, and there can be few things more frustrating than some management graduate or politician -- national or university -- of little talent making decisions that are clearly impossible to implement.

Novikov makes it easy to imagine a political system almost entirely driven by this sort of behaviour. Reading between the lines of Novikov's account of his life one begin to gain an idea of how difficult it was to practise science in Soviet Russia.

These parts of the book should give New Zealand scientists, and politicians, pause for thought. Fiefdoms with power and money under the control of a few individuals is a very bad recipe for genuine innovation and the development of new ideas, yet it is a direction in which we seem to be headed willy-nilly.

A River of Time is both a serious cosmological discussion and a gentle memoir, written in an idiosyncratic style which seems a little quaint, perhaps even a little chauvinist, to a Western ear but this by no means detracts from the writing. I found the book entertaining and thought-provoking to read, and found that small bites and long thought helped my understanding. If you have any interest in cosmology, or are interested in science in the USSR, I recommend this book to you.

Craig Marshall is in Otago University's Biochemistry Department.