Einstein Dreamed of Mr. g by Alan Lightman

God created science fiction.

No really, He did. Along with a bunch of other cool stuff. Like Albert Einstein. And Alan Lightman.

When I arrived at the University of Washington in 1996, I took science classes for the first two years. Biology. Chemistry. And of course physics. Whereas I loved chemistry and the puzzles it creates, physics and I just didn’t get along that well. The quantum aspect of much of it just wasn’t my thing, even though those very same quantum laws affect every single chemistry reaction.

Then I read Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. For whatever reason, my mind opened to physics in a way it hadn’t before. I think my mind was trying to create tangible understanding whereas physics is about the unseen and largely the concept. Einstein’s Dreams takes time and twists it about 30 different ways in 30 different dream stories. For all intents and purposes, time is a concept and once I realized concepts could be learned a different way, my understanding of physics became much easier. I wanted to know the universe better and Lightman helped with that.

I’m not the only one who wants to know the universe better. To quote the late and the great, Albert Einstein wrote:

“I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.”

Einstein wasn’t asking for much, was he? Thankfully, Alan Lightman has stepped to the fore. Lightman, a professor at MIT, decided to give Einstein an explanation of sorts with his new “novel,” Mr. g, a fictional account of how God created the universe.

Here is more about Mr. g:

“As I remember, I had just woken up from a nap when I decided to create the universe.”

So begins Alan Lightman’s playful and profound new novel, Mr g, the story of Creation as told by God. Barraged by the constant advisements and bickerings of Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva, who live with their nephew in the shimmering Void, Mr g proceeds to create time, space, and matter. Then come stars, planets, animate matter, consciousness, and, finally, intelligent beings with moral dilemmas. Mr g is all powerful but not all knowing and does much of his invention by trial and error.

Even the best-laid plans can go awry, and Mr g discovers that with his creation of space and time come some unforeseen consequences—especially in the form of the mysterious Belhor, a clever and devious rival. An intellectual equal to Mr g, Belhor delights in provoking him: Belhor demands an explanation for the inexplicable, requests that the newly created intelligent creatures not be subject to rational laws, and maintains the necessity of evil. As Mr g watches his favorite universe grow into maturity, he begins to understand how the act of creation can change himself, the Creator.

With echoes of Calvino, Rushdie, and Saramago, combining science, theology, and moral philosophy, Mr g is a stunningly imaginative work that celebrates the tragic and joyous nature of existence on the grandest possible scale.

Mr. g is not so much a novel as a series of short essays explaining a number of different things—from the creation of matter to why good and evil are necessary and all things in between. It will appeal to those people who loved Einstein’s Dreams and to any science fiction reader who loves a new explanation for how the universe began and where it is going. It is amusing at times; it is poignant at others. It’s definitely a great read if you are looking for something unique.

Mr. g by Alan Lightman is in fine bookstores today!

Go learn something!