Cosmic Time Travel

There are really two odysseys here: the development of theoretical physics from relativity forward and the attempt to manipulate time itself as a new dimension of the universe. Parker shuttles back and forth between the two, passing through wormholes, tachyonslc per webster and spinning black holes and trying ultimately to make the two ends meet in reversible space-time travel. Even with speculative splices from astrophysicists and a science fiction writer, however, the ends of Parker's theoretical rope are too short. Though a theory that provides for time travel is out of reach--never mind its application--readers should not be deterred from this space-time odyssey in search of a way to move forward in the cosmos--or back. Parker is a professor of physics and astronomy at Idaho State University. (Sept.)