How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Markham nodded. "True—but the advanced wave is there, in the mathematics. There's no way around it. The equations of physics are all time-symmetric. That's one of the riddles of modern physics. How is it that we perceive time passing, and yet all the equations of physics say that time can run either way, forward or backward?" (9.108)
That's a fascinating question and one that doesn't have an answer in the book. It leads us back to what we said at the start of this discussion: Science can create as many riddles as it can answer questions. Assuming you like riddles, that's not a bad thing at all.
Quote #5
It was as though some unnoticed force came over the horizon, all the way from Asia, and chipped away at this cozy pocket of Americana. Stubby breakwaters tried to blunt the effect, but Gordon could not understand how they could last. Time would eat all this away; it had to. (13.6)
We see more time imagery here in the ocean. Like time, the ocean is vast and holds back many of its secrets from Gordon, who can only view it from the shore. As such, he can't get a complete picture and only sees the way it erodes the world around him like, well, the traditional view of time.
Quote #6
He and Renfrew and Peterson would emerge from the Cav to find that no one knew what they were babbling about. Ocean bloom? We solved that ages ago. So they would be madmen, a curious trio sharing a common delusion. Yet to be consistent, the equations said that sending the message couldn't have too great an effect. It couldn't cut off the very reason for sending the tachyons in the first place. So there had to be some self-consistent picture, in which Renfrew still got his initial idea, and approached the World Council, and yet… (15.82)
The difficulty in messing with time is the potential of a paradox, and Timescape shares this trope with many other famous science fiction stories. But while each has its own take on the conundrum, in all cases, the relationship between time and the paradox represents science's exploration and questioning of the unknown.