String-Music of the Spheres

Okay, I'll admit it - quantum theory has always bugged (and baffled) me. It's proven to be extremely powerful for physicists, it's borne up well experimentally, it is (as I understand it, not being qualified to judge) mathematically elegant... but it doesn't jibe with most of our daily experiences in the real world. Wave-particle duality, the mysterious "role of the observer" in collapsing probabilities to a discrete state, Heisenberg's poor, doomed cat forever trapped in limbo between life and death. Even Einstein considered it "spooky." From what I've read, many particle physicists get flustered if asked to interpret "what it means" in the macroscopic world we all inhabit and simply dismiss such attempts as unnecessary distractions from applying a useful theory, hopelessly speculative side-trips into the realm of metaphysics.

For SF writers and readers, though, those side-trips are often the point, journeys of discovery where mind-boggling insights can be glimpsed. And author Rob Bryanton boldly explores this uncharted territory of higher dimensions beyond our perception, where vibrating strings may just generate our reality (and many other realities), in his book Imagining the Tenth Dimension: A New Way of Thinking about Time and Space.

Bryanton, by his own admission, is no scientist or quantum theoretician. He's a composer who creates music for television shows and films primarily... which may make him uniquely qualified, on some level, to grasp the nuances of a "super-string symphony" that might explain everything. He has read extensively on the subject (praising the work of popular science writers like Michio Kaku, Brian Greene, and Lisa Randall) but brings a layman's humble, common-sense perspective to this conversation. He acknowledges that his theory of reality bears little resemblance to what would be taught in a formal physics or cosmology class, but he proposes an interpretation of a ten-dimensional multiverse that is accessible, rational, and quite intriguing. And it is, in some fundamental ways, compatible with (or at least not at odds with) established scientific thinking on the subjects of string theory, quantum mechanics, dark matter and energy, and other phenomena that mark the boundaries between what we do and don't know. You can get a "Cliffs Notes" summary of his theory via the brief video linked below.

At one point in the book, Bryanton writes the following:

Here's a completely shameless and self-serving proposition: "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" should be required reading for any writers planning on creating a story about time travel. The basic concepts from Chapter One give a framework for how time can be manipulated, or moved within, and there are many ideas within the chapters that follow which could be excellent jumping off points for new fiction.

As someone who's written short stories revolving around time travel, I'd agree with his assessment. There are valuable insights to be gained from Bryanton's imaginings, whether you write speculative fiction or just enjoy challenging the limits of your (and our species') current understanding of reality. If you're ready for your mind to expand into higher dimensions, where you can't help but view the world around you in a different way, give this book a try!