Book excerpt: When the destination sign on Scrooges train reads "HEAT DEATH" instead of "HEATHROW," when his dead partner Marleys face appears as a talking head in a department store TV, and when the street lights outside his flat begin acting strangely, it is a sign of a bad night to come. Like his famous ancestor, the modern Scrooge is about to be visited by ghosts. But its not his hard heart that needs opening; its his closed mind. Physicist Robert Gilmore, author of the popular Alice in Quantumland, presents here a delightful takeoff, where the three visitations represent Science Past, Present and Future. For everyone who wants a playful, painless yet surprisingly sophisticated introduction to the ideas of modern physics, this is a brilliant tour de force and a charming read.