Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Oppenheimer Connection in SLIPSTREAM

SPOILER ALERT==> I'M CHATTING ABOUT MY BOOK SO GO AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT PART OF THE STORY IS ABOUT:

I think that Robert Oppenheimer is a tragic figure. An American theoretical physicist, he along with Enrico Fermi, created the first atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer recalled after the detonation of the first atomic bomb (called Trinity) a verse from the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad Gita. "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one..." Years later, he said he also thought of a second verse, "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Convinced that the H-bomb was a genocidal device that would cause excessive destruction, Oppenheimer believed an international agency should regulate nuclear weapons. He argued that the United States could secure its defense with a stockpile of atomic arms. However, at the height of the Cold War, defense hawks and anti-Communists saw Oppenheimer’s view as unpatriotic. Edward Teller and Lewis Strauss, two advocates for the hydrogen bomb, contributed to Oppenheimer’s humiliation in hearings that stripped him of his security clearance forever.

I've always thought that America behaved terribly toward one of our greatest minds. Fear of course was behind it, and Americans are some of the most afraid people in the world. I'm not saying that there isn't good reason to be afraid. But fear drives public policy, decision-making, and belief.

When I set out to write my book, I used the work that Robert Oppenheimer did and the Trinity bomb as a catalyst for the destruction of a parallel world in a mirror universe.

I posed this question: what would happen if there were two adjacent universes? We live in one. And people just like us live in the other. To keep these two identical universes apart, are two towers. One on Earth and one on the mirror world which I call Avalon.  These structures are big...really big. As tall as mountains. The one on Avalon was located in the desert of White Sands, New Mexico. So, what are these towers?
I kind of picture the scale of the towers I envision as being similar to the
artist rendition of the Ultima Tower. This isn't a "fantasy" tower but something
that architects propose building someday on our own planet.
Think "the ultimate skyscraper" and you get the idea.
Well I have an answer for that. These towers are just containers to keep a pair of boxes safe. The boxes are part of this whole idea that I had of a designer universe. In other words, the boxes are the most incredible super computer that you could possibly imagine and probably even a little beyond that. They have an unlimited unknown power supply self-contained within the towers. They run a computer program that defines all the laws of physics in mathematical terms for every thing in the universe.

You might ask...who created the towers? Who created the boxes? I name that being as simply "The Creator" and never go further into that. But the Creator would be a pretty amazing engineer.

So what is the Oppenheimer Connection in SLIPSTREAM? An atomic bomb produces an electro magnetic pulse. This thing disrupts electronics. The towers that house the amazing boxes that define how the universe works would have been immune to this. What I pose in my story (once I set up all these ideas) is that when Trinity was detonated on Earth, the effects of the EMP crossed the boundaries between universes inside the walls of the tower on the parallel world. It disrupted the computer program running in the box on the far side for a millionth of a second, and this was very bad.  It laid waste to an entire world, and the tower on that mirror planet that had stood for billions of years exploded.

This event set into motion everything that happens in SLIPSTREAM and in its sequels that I've plotted out, but have yet to write.

34 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting story. I have to get back to reading it at some point but I keep getting sidetracked.

    You should read "The Marbury Lens" by Andrew Smith. It has a similar premise only it's some kind of glasses that allow the main character to go to this apocalyptic world from the "real" world.

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  2. So your universes have an Intelligent Designer?

    That's an incredible premise -- and, like the best sci-fi, rooted in (what sounds to me, at least) like real science. Do the people in your book know about the towers? Do they fight wars to control them? If you didn't have that in mind before but use it in a spin-off will you at least give me credit?

    I've got to buy your book. I was going to today, but Mr Bunches announced that tonight we would be going to Target. You'd think we'd unelect him as head of the family, but he won't allow it.

    Also, I haven't had much time to read. But I WILL, I SWEAR, because it sounds great.

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  3. I skipped your whole post b/c I want to read your book. I'll be back again this week.

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  4. @P.T.: Oooh thanks for reading. I appreciate it.

    @Briane: Yes. I think Intelligent Design fits perfectly in science fiction.

    @Susan: No problem. Thanks for visiting.

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  5. Oppenheimer was a sort of tragic figure. Your book sounds amazing. Checking it out again after posting. I write YA sci fi. My latest is a futuristic thriller called Fireseed One. I'm over from A to Z so pop by and say hello if you like. Today, I'm talking about future tech apps regarding the ocean. Catherine.
    (Catherine Stine's Idea City)

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  6. You are uber intelligent. This was an amazing post and your ideas are incredible! I love the idea of the two towers.

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  7. Telling me not to read on is like telling me not to think of pink elephants.

    Had to read!

    Fascinating premise. If such a disruption destroyed the super computer in Avalon, then what the hell will happen to our universe???

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  8. You are very creative and I wuld love to read the book. Great post! And kudos to you on the premise.

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  9. This is brilliant. And I don't mine spoilers. But, dang! That tower is HUGE! And to think I have a two mile high tower in my first novel. Crazy how fact catches up with fiction. :)

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  10. It's clear to me from this post and from reading your book, a lot of research went into the writing and studying the science behind it.

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  11. Can't wait to read it. And spoilers never bother me. As long as you don't tell me everyone dies at the end. Besides, this felt more like a teaser (=

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  12. I think Oppenheimer was the most misunderstood person of his era.

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  13. I am just waiting the book to be published in the book form.
    I remember writing about
    Oppenheimer in one of my blog entries. I have to think hard and see where I wrote it.

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  14. Imagine building something like the Ultima Tower! A structure that high is really right out of Science Fiction.

    Fear is never a good thing to base decisions on. It leads to so many of the conflicts and problems in society.


    The Golden Eagle
    The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

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  15. I'd bet Oppenheimer was concerned because he knew the power of what he'd created and what others could do with it.

    Interesting and catastrophic point from which to start a story.

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  16. Cool premise, Michael. I really look forward to reading it.

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  17. I think America behaved terribly against Oppenheimer too.

    And the tower idea is so awesome, and I can't wait to read more about it in the sequels. :)

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  18. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go away because I'm definitely going to read Slipstream. Thanks for the spoiler alert.

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  19. I think you have a brilliant mind, Michael ;)

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  20. The whole race for the bomb is fascinating. On the one hand, it was awful and terrible. On the other, we learned so much from it.

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  21. I didn't read the post, I've just hit 50% in the book and don't want to spoil anything. Really want to read what you said about Oppenheimer though, fascinating guy.

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  22. This post just basically made me really look forward to reading your book.

    For another fantasy book that places Oppenheimer as a pivotal figure and posits the bomb as a world-changer (albeit in a totally different way than you're describing here), I highly recommend Krazy Kat: A Novel in Five Panels (aka Krazy Kat: A Novel) by Jay Cantor. Brilliant stuff.

    A-Z @ Elizabeth Twist

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  23. Didn't read a word of your post. Don't like spoilers.

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  24. OK...you have a great mind. The story is AMazing!

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  25. "Fear drives public policy, decision-making, and belief" -- as well as the evening news. Unfortunate, but true. That's why we need SF to take our minds off reality!

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  26. How interesting to hear the question you asked. I wonder how many authors can say Oppenheimer was inspiration.

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  27. Sorry, skipped the post because I don't want to know anything. I just want to read it!!! :) I'll come back when I'm done.

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  28. You're not only talented, but brilliant! I swear - I would never know all of this. I wish I did. I can't wait to read your book!

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  29. Its a great premise, and you do well to solidify it in the novel.

    Shame about Oppenheimer; isn't that pretty much what NATO is doing now?

    ......dhole

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  30. Is it bad that I only know his name from The Big bang Theory?

    Jamie
    Fellow A-Z Buddy
    Doing a monumental blog catch-up
    Mithril Wisdom

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  31. ooh i love the pic of the tower. That matches with my imagined image of the towers

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  32. Your post was far from a spoiler. Now I'm salivating to read Slipstream. I'm a hypothetical science geek.

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  33. Well, I read the post. Hoping to get to your book in a few weeks. I have some projects I have to finish up before I'll be able to get to it.

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  34. Oppenheimer was an incredible man. Many of the scientists of his generation struggled with the atomic bomb what they knew it could do but most of them managed to come out of that era unscathed. Or not as marred as Oppenheimer. You just can't play around with the dark people in the world who want to take over or win by force.

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