ABOUT THE BOOK

A marine scientist is working on a renowned biodiversity-rich island with a PhD student in physics, Jerome, who is running experiments on the cosmic space-time fabric. Jerome believes that if he gets the cosmological constant right, he would be able to travel through time. One morning, they wake up on the hillside and see Spanish galleons anchored in the bay. Jerome has succeeded with his computational tinkering, and the two find themselves in the year 1521. They rush back to the coastal village only to find a settlement full of unfamiliar faces. Knowing the violence that is to come, they must rally and prepare the villagers for the arrival of the Spaniards. But when the cave holding Jerome’s instruments is blocked, their only hope for return lies in sending a message across the island—and five hundred years into the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen T. Yap is currently Professor Emeritus of Marine Science. She has been affiliated with the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman since her graduation in 1979 with a degree in Marine Biology, magna cum laude. She obtained her PhD from the University of Rostock, German Democratic Republic. Her career has been devoted to teaching and research, and also helping to advise international scientific organizations in addressing marine environmental problems. Among others, she has served as two-time chair of the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP, an advisory body to a number of agencies of the United Nations system), and vice-chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN. She is the author of From Inside the Berlin Wall, also published by the UP Press.