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In Search of Now

The Science of the Present Moment

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Pub Date Mar 17 2026 | Archive Date Feb 28 2026


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Description

A mind-bending, brilliantly accessible exploration of the shifting science behind perception, reality, and time.

What is Now? It seems simple. The immediate moment, what we’re experiencing this instant, bathes us like air, or gravity. It is our connection with the world. Yet when we try to grasp it, to scrutinize the phenomenon and bring it into focus, it vanishes, slipping through our fingers like a dream. According to the most trusted models of physics, Now doesn’t even exist. And neuroscience suggests that it’s merely a convincing hallucination.

But if there’s no special split second of happening out in the world, no universal frontier at which the open future becomes the solid past, where does our feeling of “nowness” come from? What shapes the flow of events and sensations that we perceive—and is this really just an illusion?

Best-selling science writer Jo Marchant takes us on a grand tour of the latest thinking in cosmology, quantum mechanics, psychology, and neuroscience to tackle these questions and explore the fundamental essence of time. With characteristic flair and clarity, she shows us the creative force of a moment, both from the outside in—the cosmic perspective of physics—and as we experience it, from the inside out. In Search of Now weaves together personal journey, philosophical meditation, rigorous research, and above all a probing, scientific curiosity about how our lives—and worlds—unfold.


About the Author: 

Jo Marchant, PhD, is the author of several popular books, including The Human Cosmos: Civilization and the Stars (2020) and the New York Times bestseller Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind over Body (2016), which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize and longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize. She lives in London.

A mind-bending, brilliantly accessible exploration of the shifting science behind perception, reality, and time.

What is Now? It seems simple. The immediate moment, what we’re experiencing this...


Advance Praise

"In Search of Now is a beautifully written exploration of that most central aspect of time—the present moment. Expertly weaving together physics, philosophy, and neuroscience, Jo Marchant’s book will change the way you think, and maybe the way you live too. Make time for it." -Anil Seth, author of Being You

"We are intimately familiar with Now, indeed everything we experience is embedded in it. And yet it is a mystery. In this illuminating new book, Jo Marchant takes us on a marvelous personal and scientific voyage into this mystery." -Dean Buonomano, author of Your Brain is Time Machine

"What could be better for the present moment than Jo Marchant's book! But I won't speak of Now in the singular as she does in her title, for the book’s overpowering message is that the world is a living community of nows. I've been studying the subject in the narrow context of quantum theory for 30 years, never realizing that I lacked a general education for what I most wanted to know. Reading this book took me back to school, and I loved every minute of it!" -Christopher Fuchs, chief architect of QBism

"Effortlessly weaving together fascinating insights from physics, philosophy, and neuroscience, In Search of Now is an engrossing and thought-provoking exploration of the most mysterious, and most precious, of all things: our ever-changing moment-to-moment experience" -Kieran Fox, author of I Am a Part of Infinity: The Spiritual Journey of Albert Einstein

"In clear and engaging prose, Jo Marchant guides us through the maze that intertwines our notions of time, causality, identity, and reality—and points us in the direction of a new reframing. In Search of Now is a splendid example of the best sort of synthetic thinking and writing." -Alicia Juarrero, author of Context Changes Everything

"In this profound and brilliant treatise on the nature of reality, Marchant asks the greatest question: what does it mean to exist? The answer brings a dazzling exploration of science and philosophy, from consciousness to quarks, illuminating our embodied experience within the grandeur of an unfolding unfeeling Universe. A phenomenal, wonderful, ambitious work that won’t just shift your perspective but rather catapult it into another dimension" -Gaia Vince, author of Nomad Century

"I came to In Search of Now with high expectations, and they were happily exceeded. Fueled by the deceptively simple question 'What is Now?' Jo Marchant proves to be a captivating guide through the slippery terrain of consciousness, illuminating both the limits and potentials of the human experience. This fascinating book will leave readers wiser after every turn of the page." -Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire

"A superb, illuminating book that will change the way you think about the present moment." -Claudia Hammond, author of Time Warped

"Original, gripping and perspective-smashing. Jo Marchant is up there with our greatest science writers." -Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling

"This is a proper safari of science: from Amazonians with no word for time, to Apollo astronauts staring at the infinite and the neuroscience of mindfulness, Jo Marchant's new book will change the way you think about the flow of time and the passing of every moment." -Kevin Fong, author of Extreme Medicine

"In Search of Now is a beautifully written exploration of that most central aspect of time—the present moment. Expertly weaving together physics, philosophy, and neuroscience, Jo Marchant’s book will...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781324097488
PRICE $32.99 (USD)
PAGES 352

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