Time's Second Arrow

A distinguished geoscientist and rising-star astrobiologist offer a stunning new theory upending 150 years of established science–and an inspiring new vision of our universe



In Time’s Second Arrow, Robert M. Hazen and Michael L. Wong overturn more than a century of scientific canon, arguing that there must be a second “arrow of time”—a heretofore missing law of nature that explains how the marvellously complex constituents of our universe came to be. Evolution, they boldly propose, is a universal phenomenon–not only in biology, but in the entire atomic, chemical, mineral and physical universe. Showing how a natural process of selection for increasing function has shaped the universe since its inception, they explore how this new law could possibly help us identify life on other planets and–perhaps–even understand the purpose and meaning of life on Earth in a new way. Elegantly written and deeply moving, Time’s Second Arrow reveals how our cosmic inheritance includes a drive toward wondrous invention and progress—ultimately revising our understanding of the universe and our place within it.