During my first year of retirement in 2000, I began inquiring about string theory, the forces of nature, quantum mechanics, dark energy and dark matter – the universe of the invisible “infinitesimals.” That investment of my free time in studing books and magazines that covered modern physics eventually led to writing the stories about Speck and Spark. The following is an outline of the fundamental ideas behind my original narrative.
1. In the beginning some fantastically intelligent mind conceived the principles, the laws, and the relationships necessary to create something out of nothing which we humans call the universe.
2. This creative genius understood that the smallest particles which would constitute the heavens and the earth would require basic, specific attributes in order to exist or participate in this huge electrical/chemical experiment. Whatever was concocted must evolve repetitively without dissipating anything that we now call energy and matter.
3. Cognizant that what was to be created to populate the infinite space available must be formed from conglomerations of these infinitesimal units, the brilliant architect began to design the cycling and recycling processes choosing the simplest ingredients or elements that are not completely identified by physicists today.
4. At the basic level of what humans may one day understand as existence, the creative force imbued, infused, and implanted into each and every elemental unit what are the minimum requirements for temporary individual stability or identity and the essential capabilities for reproduction and evolution. These fundamental capabilities are:
A. The ability to understand the laws governing the universe
B. The ability to respond to external stimuli
C. The ability to communicate with other similar units
5. “To understand the underlying laws,” a basic intelligence was necessary to recognize all pertinent laws like those of gravity, of thermodynamics, or of chemical reactions. This awareness was bequeathed to all individual units.
6. “To respond to external stimuli” implementing the universal laws, a flexibility was designed into each unit enabling it to react to a variety of stimulants. It might be attracted to or repelled by magnetic impulses, forced to dissolve when subjected to high flows of energy, or coerced to move when dominated by gravity. Such responses determine how stable each unit is before it evolves into some other form of energy/matter.
7. “To communicate” at the most primitive level, a rudimentary alert system was built into each unit to recognize changing ambient conditions. This system could also signal to like units what was actually happening to the initiating unit itself.
8. A force, so powerful, so compelling, so pervasive, so mysterious was then unleashed by the creative mind that launched the infant universe into its present evolving form. Processes so complicated began that eventually achieved what humans faintly perceive today as the mysteriously ordered cosmos.
9. And the evening and the morning were the first day of the energy/matter time-line.
