The Order of Time
by Carlo Rovelli
Mentioned 2 times across 2 shows · first heard Jan 2026 on The Shawn Ryan Show.
The general take
Dax Shepard found "The Order of Time" by Carlo Rovelli genuinely mind-blowing after finally picking it up from his nightstand, where it had sat unread for years. He emphasizes multiple times how impressed he was with the book's ideas, suggesting it's worth actually opening rather than leaving it to collect dust.
About
One of TIME’s Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade "Meet the new Stephen Hawking . . . The Order of Time is a dazzling book." -- The Sunday Times From the bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics , Reality Is Not What It Seems , Helgoland , and Anaximander comes a concise, elegant exploration of time. Why do we remember the past and not the future? What does it mean for time to "flow"? Do we exist in time or does time exist in us? In lyric, accessible prose, Carlo Rovelli invites us to consider questions about the nature of time that continue to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike. For most readers this is unfamiliar terrain. We all experience time, but the more scientists learn about it, the more mysterious it remains. We think of it as uniform and universal, moving steadily from past to future, measured by clocks.
Who said what
Dax Shepard👍 Recommends
…Dax recommending a physics book about time that he found mind-blowing and has been reading
“Someone told me to buy this book, The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, a physicist. And it's been sitting in my nightstand for a few years. Oh. And then I moved nightstands. I got a different nightstand against my will. But I got one. And then so it reemerged. And then I was like, I'm going to, I'm going to leaf through this. I find it mind blowing. Okay. It's so mind blowing.”
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard — Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau & Luke Malone (on child sexual abuse prevention)at 58:00
Tim Ferriss👍 Recommends
…tim ferriss recommending carlo rovelli's book on physics and time perception
“I would encourage, it can be hard. You can watch his TED, not TED Talks. You can watch his YouTube videos and so on before digesting videos. But Carlo Rovelli is a physicist. I believe he's most focused on quantum gravity. And he has some really thought-provoking writing on time. I think one of his books is called The Order of Things.”
The Shawn Ryan Show — #274 Tim Ferriss - Life-Changing Practical Wisdom Backed by Experience and Scienceat 8:20:00
Listener reviews
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