The River of Time

C.P. Snow's famous dichotomy of the scientific and literary cultures is evident in this nonliterary work from a former Soviet professor of astrophysics, now affiliated with Copenhagen University. A veteran of 15 books (six of which have been published in English), Novikov begins by comparing his familiar adoptive metaphor--time as a river ""that carries in its flow all events without exception""--to others that philosophy tried out and discarded in its birthing of a ""science of time."" He quickly moves on to explain well the relationship between the theories of Newton and Einstein, managing at the same time to show clearly how time, space and gravity are linked. Other high points are explanations of how time takes on quantum properties inside a black hole, and the nature of vacuums. But these serve only to increase the reader's regret at other, missed opportunities. The section on the Fitzgerald contractions of space-time, among others, are not handled well, and the bland cartoon illustrations are by and large not helpful. It's often difficult to see how the author arrives at his conclusions, as the book reads more like an off-the-cuff lecture than a composed work. (The difficulty is increased by a translation that retains many traces of Russian construction and grammar.) Novikov himself comes across as an engaging riverboat captain, but the book will probably manage to carry across only those who already have a good grasp of physics. (June)