Time: Its Structure and Role in Physical Theories

This book on the structure and role of time in physical theories addresses itself to scientists and philosophers 'i in the 'no man's lard' between science and philosophy, in particular between physics and philoso- phy. The lint of departure is physical time, Le. time as usErl 1: physicists in their theories; but the analysis is not oonfined to a purely physical level but caries the problem into the domain of philosophical in- quiry. Altoough the book lses some knowledge of physics, I have avoided, wherever lssible, the use of advanced mathematics and technical details. Of all the people woo have been of help in writing this book, I >uld first of all like to mention Paul Scheurer and Guy Debrock who were my primary mentors in science and philosophy. This sttrly is a revision of my dissertation [Kroes 1982a] which I wrote under the stimulating guidance of Scheurer; many of the ideas ex- posed here have their origin in his >rk and were developErl in frequent discussions with him. Guy Debrock not only stimulated my interest in philosophy but also made valuable suggestions. Witoout any overstatement, I dare say that without their assistence, this book >uld never have been written. Furthernore, I >uld like to thank D. Dieks, J.J.C.