The Early Life of Astrophysicist Ronald Mallett
Currently, Mallett is an astrophysicist in his late 70s, working at the University of Connecticut. But in order to understand his lifelong fascination with time travel, we must venture back to his early childhood.
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At the young age of ten, Mallett lost his father, Boyd. Shortly after, he obtained a copy of HG Wells’s The Time Machine, and suddenly, it dawned on him that he was going to create a time machine and venture back to 1955 to save his father’s life.
Renaissance Father Seeks to Inspire Curiosity
Speaking of his fond memories of his father, Mallett described him as a funny and handsome “Renaissance man” who would inspire curiosity in him and his siblings.
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“When he passed away, it was like this light went out. I was in shock,” Mallett said, via The Guardian.
The Death of Mallett's Father
On a tragic evening in 1955, Boyd had gone to bed with his wife like any normal night. However, that evening, he suffered a deadly heart attack on the eve of their 11th wedding anniversary.
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“I couldn’t comprehend how this was possible. To this day, it’s hard for me to believe he’s gone. Even after 60 some years,” Mallett said.
Mallett’s Father Spoiled His Children
Despite making little more than a modest living, Mallett explained that he and his siblings were spoiled by their father. “He worked very, very hard, he loved having a family, and he loved playing with us,” he said.
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Mallett added, “One of the last things that I remember was – [on] one of the last Christmases – we wanted a bike, and he took on extra work. And all three boys got a bicycle; it was incredible for him to do that.”
Life After the Passing of His Father
Mallett admits life was difficult in the years that followed his father’s death. His family was uprooted and moved to Altoona, Pennsylvania, to be closer to his mother’s parents.
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Recalling a fight he had with neighborhood bullies, Mallet said, “I was in the dark already. And that just added to that, I think. I was becoming unraveled because I was in a very deep depression after he died.”
The Time Machine
Mallett became somewhat of a recluse and found solace in books and magazines. One book that drastically changed his life was The Time Machine.
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“It somehow just spoke to me,” he said. “The very first paragraph changed my life. I still remember the quote: ‘Scientific people know very well that time is just a kind of space and we can move forward and backward in time, just as we can in space.’”
Time is Not an Absolute
Upon discovering a book by Albert Einstein that challenged the notion of absolute time, Mallett was driven to understand every aspect of it. He realized that the only way to see his father again was to master the content of the book, leading him to a life of intense study and dedication.
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“It was a very, very solitary life,” he says. He chose the graveyard shift so he could study and “was just in my world, in my books.”
Mallett Earns his PhD in Physics
After serving in the Air Force, Mallett studied at Pennsylvania State University and became one of the first Black men to receive a PhD in physics.
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However, he would refrain from speaking about his time travel theories until the mid-90s. Shortly after, he experienced his eureka moment. “It turns out that rotating black holes can create a gravitational field that could lead to loops of time being created that can allow you to go to the past,” said the astrophysicist.
Astrophysicist Explains His Time Travel Theory
“Let me give you an analogy,” Mallett said. “Let’s say you have a cup of coffee in front of you right now. Start stirring the coffee with the spoon. It started swirling around, right? That’s what a rotating black hole does.”
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He added, “In Einstein’s theory, space and time relate to each other. That’s why it’s called space-time. So as the black hole is rotating, it’s actually going to cause a twisting of time.”
A Time Machine the Size of the Universe
Despite Mallett’s fascinating theory, other astrophysicists and scientists have criticized him. Many argue that his time machine would have to be the size of the known universe in order for it to work.
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In response to his critics, Mallett said, “You’re absolutely right; you’re talking about galactic types of energy in order to do that.”
Twisting Space, Not Time
Before Mallett begins theorizing how large the time machine would be, he explains that he needs to prove that it’s possible to twist space but not time. Essentially, this means the astrophysicist needs to manipulate the path of light so that it creates a loop in space, which is a crucial step in his time travel theory.
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If proven correct, the funding required to begin working on such a product would not come cheap. Unfortunately, even if Mallett’s theories became a reality, they would only allow us to travel back to the point when the loop was created, meaning there’s no chance he could go back to 1955 and save his father.