From Tim Redman, Stratford- upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK
Referring to mentions of time in recent editions of New Scientist, I would like to offer an opinion. The spatial dimensions of north, south, east and west define an object in instant space but, as virtually all matter is in constant relative motion, there is a need to measure change between events caused by this motion – we call this time. But this time dimension doesn’t complete our picture, as nearly all matter deteriorates through lack of stability – its entropy changes (Letters, 7 March).
I don’t perceive time as flowing, but that time measures the difference between events. Those events are affected by entropy, and we see that change from one event to another, and as in film, one frame at a time flows into apparent motion. Therefore, time flow is an illusion. Time doesn’t begin or end; it is just another space between events. It is the change in entropy that we experience.
