Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
This is contradicted by relativity. Einstein demonstrated that there is no such thing as absolute time. If time is relative, then there is a continuum.
Rat brings up a very good point, but at the same time you don't want a bad explanation of time travel to distract the reader from the story you're trying to tell. Did anyone see the "A Sound of Thunder" movie? Christ...
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Exactly. Read Timeline by Michael Crichton. He gets a concept so horridly wrong that it completely deflates his plot because, by his own explanation of time travel, his plot is impossible.
So getting the mechanics is important.
It is relatively (ha ha) easy to go forward in time. We do it routinely, after all. And we can go forward in time faster - - just. . go faster. The closer you get to the speed of light, the faster forward in time you go. In theory if you travel to the Andromeda Galaxy and back at near-light speed, everyone you know will be long dead even though you were only gone 8 years. 8 years to you was many times that to those who didn't go as fast as you.
Travelling backward presents a more special problem. You essentially have to travel at a negative velocity, which is not physically possible in our universe/dimension. The only way to do it would be to envelop yourself in a bubble of space/time that is able to flow backwards. Some say that's possible, others say it's not.
In short, if your characters are going forward in time, just make them go really fast and you're set. If they're going backward in time, you're gonna have to make shit up
