Does time have a real, physical existence; is it a fact of nature? Or is it subjective, a kind of sensory illusion, a projection of our thoughts? The conundrum has engaged Western philosophy and science for ages and to this day remains without a solution. Although it also takes into account physicists' and philosophers' viewpoints, this text adopts a different perspective and explores the phenomenon of time as it is experienced by individuals, with the tools of experimental psychology: direct observation, analysis of acoustic and visual perception. The result is a "grammar of becoming" founded on time's building blocks: continuity, irreversibility, instantaneousness, succession, localisation, duration, space/time/velocity relationships, time gaps, dj vu. The end product of decades' work undertaken by the author, this text is an example of cutting-edge scientific research.hension of minds as natural phenomena.

Giovanni Bruno Vicario teaches General Psychology at the University of Udine.