Block Theory of the Universe

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The Block Theory of the Universe, also known as the Block Hypothesis, is a 19th century notion that time is a fourth space dimension. This proposition was used as the basis for the novel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.

The Block Hypothesis is sometimes wrongly used to refer to the Static interpretation of time. However, the Block Hypothesis treats time as a dimension equal to and of the same nature as the three space dimensions. This differs from the 20th century Static Interpretation, where time is seen an indivisible part of the spacetime continuum of Albert Einstein's relativity. This is seen already in the 1907 presentation of Minkowski spacetime, where the basis vector in the time direction is set apart from the others.