In Search of Now: The Science and Mystery of the Present Moment

A NEW SCIENTIST PICK FOR 2026

‘Won’t just shift your perspective but rather catapult it into another dimension’ GAIA VINCE

What if the present moment - the ‘now’ we all inhabit - isn’t just a tick of the clock?

We feel that the present is everything; all we can know. Yet physics finds no universal ‘now’. To explore what a moment really is, In Search of Now draws on state-of-the-art discoveries in neuroscience, psychology, cosmology and quantum physics, revealing a dynamic, creative process in which we all play a part.

Jo Marchant shows how we each carve out our lived experience - sensations and emotions, actions and decisions - through our interactions with the world. Far from being an illusion or a mere slice of time, she argues that this evolving, interconnected tapestry is the source of our lives and selves, and perhaps even reality itself.

Join Jo to explore the secrets of how our lives really unfold - and rediscover the creative power of ‘now’.

‘Illuminating … will change the way you think’ CLAUDIA HAMMOND
‘Fascinating’ Mail on Sunday