Understanding human temporality is a theoretical and experimental challenge, requiring oblique and imaginative ways to capture the manner in which time enters and structures human experience. This book bridges music, physics, and experimental psychology to present a unique perspective on the experience of time that is rooted in both physical theory and Gestalt psychology. Featuring a novel framework based on the idea that time enters mind through the dynamics of memory decay, it draws on the author's research experience in astrophysics and cognitive psychology to present a unique perspective on this topic. It will be of interest to students, researchers, and anyone seeking deeper insight into how the mind and body interact to shape personal experience and the world we inhabit.

‘Based primarily on a thorough examination of some critical elements of experimental psychology and emphasizing the importance of perceptual organization and the critical role of memory, this book offers the reader an original and most welcome account of human temporalities.’

Simon Grondin - Professor of Psychology, Université Laval, Canada

‘It is easy to assume that our experience of events in time is clock-like. In this book, David Gilden dispels this assumption to reveal that experience is totally different as the timing of events crosses a boundary between one and two seconds. This phase transition informs decades of research on perception, memory, and action.’

Christopher Kello - Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California, Merced, USA