| Newton's Universe |
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The Newtonian theory of the universe believes
that travel through time is impossible. The Newtonian Universe
is based on a linear concept of time. The idea is that the past
occurs at one point on the line of time and that the future sits
at the opposite end of the time line. Travel in any direction
other than from past to future at a constant rate is impossible.
This is in many ways similar to the flight of an arrow. Once the
arrow is fired, it will go on a forward path without. If one excludes
any other forces that would act on this arrow, such as gravity,
the arrow would travel forward in a perfectly linear direction.
This notion of the universe was devised by Sir Isaac Newton in
order that his various physics equations and gravity can exist.
This idea was commonly held for hundreds of years until Einstein's
theory of relativity was proposed (Pickover).
| The Multi-Verse |
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The multi-verse theory was proposed by
Hugh Evans III in 1957. This theory draws from Einstein's theory
of relativity in the belief that time is cyclical. This theory,
however, proposes that there are infinite universes and that a
new universe is created after every action
in the original universe. For example, the day that the bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima created another universe in which the bomb
was not dropped. These universes are parallel until the dropping
of the bomb. At this point the two universes diverge. Say the
universe where the bomb was not dropped continues and Japan still
losses the war. At this point another universe will be created
where Japan won as well. In this manner three universes now exist.
This process continues for every event in all universes. As a
result, there may be universes that exist where dinosaurs still
roam the Earth. All these universes exist at the same point in
time as each other. There is a theory that one can travel from
one universe to the other using wormholes (explained under Einstein's
Universe). In this manner, the traveler would not be moving forward
or backward in time, the traveler would be moving from one universe
to an alternative universe. According to this theory, it is technically
impossible to travel through time because time does not exist
in a linear form. According to this theory the travel would be
passing from universe to universe not time. This theory, however,
will often be used in many literary sources to depict alternative
worlds where dinosaurs still exist. For this reason, the multi-verse
theory is often included with time travel theories. In many ways,
this theory supports the travel through wormholes without encountering
the paradoxes (explained under Reverse Time Travel) implicit in
travel into the past (Preston).
| Einstein's Universe |
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