Ronald L. Mallett

Young Ronald Mallett was devastated when he was a ten-year old having to deal with his beloved father’s death. Discovering the concept of time travel in science fiction and later in scientific works dealing with general relativity, Mallett commits himself to learning mathematics and physics so that he can invent a time machine and go back in time to prevent his father’s early demise. This motivation carries Mallett through school, military service, teaching and research until at last his theories are being tested in research lab. Sadly, there’s no time machine yet. Mallett’s story is all the more interesting that as an African-American he had to face racial discrimination in his quest as well as being the only black man in the room at many gatherings of physicists. Mallett writes an engaging autobiography and is also good at explaining scientific concepts in layman’s language.… (más)

Ever since Doc Brown sped his Delorian around a mall parking lot in 1985, I have been captivated by time travel stories, gobbling up every movie and tv show on the topic. So, when I heard on an NPR show about the real life story of a boy so devastated by his father's death he dedicates his life to inventing a time machine to get just one more moment with his father, I had to read the book. Dr. Mallett is of course a much better mathematician than a writer. His sense of narrative tension and pace is clunky at best. I was particularly frustrated by his choice to end almost every chapter with and I paraphrase "but I still wasn't ready to tell my peers about my dreams to build a time machine" (cue dramatic music). However,despite these problems I enjoyed the book. The science was explained clearly enough that even mathematically challenged people like myself could understand his theories and the those used to substaniate his claims. It's of course highly unlikely I will see time travel in my lifetime but it is exciting to me to think that there is someone out there right now wacky enough to actually be working on a time machine. Long live the mad scientists.… (más)

This is an inspiring autobiography about a scientist who is interested in time travel. As a physicist, he is studying the possibility of time travel. As a person, he was inspired by the early death of his father who instilled a love of learning in him. He would like to be able to travel back in time to see his dad.

The science is a bit daunting for me as I have little aptitude in this area. But, that didn't matter. Dr. Mallett explains things well and the story of his life and dreams is very interesting even without fully understanding his theories.… (más)