Equations of Eternity: Speculations on Consciousness, Meaning, and the Mathematical Rules That..

Darling ( Deep Time ) includes no equations and few fresh ideas in this fast-forward review of quantum physics and relativity. The precis of quantum mechanics is quite a good one for the general reader, which makes it all the more regrettable when Darling abandons real science in favor of florid speculation on a communal ``cosmic consciousness'' that would pack the house at a New Age weekend retreat. Having prepared his audience with a neat summary of the subatomic quantum world as we know it, Darling finally gets to his real interest: our possible super-evolution into a species of space-time architects, freed from the physical brain to travel through black holes to colonize the cosmos. Someone should send him a copy of Arthur C. Clark's Childhood's End. (July)