Crystals I

Introduction-1

Introduction

For thousands of years people gazed at the skies in awe. They stood in awe at what they could see up there. What could they be, and what power created them? Are they tiny holes though which we can see the divine light? Are they millions of tiny fires that keep the gods warm? Could they perhaps be something else?

It was the last question that initiated the quest of the natural philosophers of the 7th and 6th century BC. Still today, we keep on wondering and stand in awe and admiration. Definitely, while science has made great strides, questions increased and ignorance ‘emerged’ among people. There has been an aloofness of man for knowledge and truth but also a strange, foolish and incomprehensible lapse to speculation, conjecture and ideological fixations. The answer lies in the depth of the centuries, in the remote past of the human species, but also in its apathy and idleness. The overwhelming majority of people, complacent with their speculation, passions, superstitions and snuggly bound into the set establishment, remain in the darkness of ignorance and illiteracy. They are lost in the vast and turbulent oceans and dangerous typhoons of speculation, ideological fixations and wishful thinking. There are only a few enlightened minds that struggle against this immobile maze of mouldy conservatism.

To get a first idea about and seek answers to the above questions, we should first reflect on and pose the questions in the first place. Besides, questions have always been more important than answers to them. It is therefore far better for someone to have a question rather than ready answers. This is how human thought started: what is it? Who created the Universe? How was it created? When was it created? What was its developmental course? At which point in its evolution are we today? What is God? Does the different names of God across people and places matter? Is God one and only? Does he really exist? Could it be that he does not exist? What is philosophy? What is its subject matter? Which philosophers have been significant to the intellectual progress of humankind? Where is philosophy today? Which scientists contributed to the prosperity of human life? What is the historical development of humankind? What does history tell us? Which point are we at today? Are we on the right path? Are we finally – even properly oriented towards the right direction to ‘Humanity’?

The same questions have been repeated for thousands of years now. Not by everyone of course, but by the few, distinct persons who have contributed to the forward pace and humanitarian direction of humankind. Some answers are offered of course, but then new questions arise that require additional answers.

Human intelligence continues on the eternal path to exploration and investigation. People, both philosophers and scientists, like young innocent children, with their eyes wide open, seek the truth, standing in awe before the magnificence of nature. They search and find beautiful shiny pebbles, or some dull-coloured ones which were once thought of as real only to prove fakes later. Yet, they go on, full of curiosity and love, to find the one and only truth. When the average man failed to get substantive, rational answers during these searches, he resorted to metaphysical interpretations. Not the philosopher and the true scientist, however. They simply carried the need to address their questions forward in the future, only to start the search anew. You see, universe generates so many thousands of questions that we find it hard which to address first. And the search goes on.

Those issues and many others we shall deal with through storytelling which we shall follow to the extent we are able or allowed to as well as scientific analysis. We shall encounter all those questions through the ‘Crystals’ series of storybooks. We shall address all those questions posed before us like mythology as well as knowledge. Thus, we will be able to suggest initial answers to those questions through a relatively pleasant and easy manner. From then on, it will be up to each one’s interest and potential for reflection that will prompt him or her to continue the search and seek out better and more satisfying answers to the above or – hopefully – to his or her own emerging questions.

In other words, through an attractive story narrative the book will offer you both some pleasant moments in a fairy-like, virtual world, letting the mind ‘relax’ travelling back in time, as well as some quite significant scientific information that you may evaluate and use as best you can. Enough material in book will be based on scientific knowledge, some on allegorical interpretations while other material will be based on pure mythology, always attempting however to link in some manner of form to scientific knowledge so as to offer this double benefit.

So, the book at hand aims at causing reflection, scientific investigation and questions to which only the pertinent discipline can possibly offer you definite and responsible answers. Never forget that! This means that before you accept something as ‘scientific knowledge’, even when you come across objective scientific facts, you should cross-check then against the body of knowledge in the pertinent discipline, even though all references to scientific facts have already been scrutinized thrice. For every scientific fact, 1st, I used Wikipedia to verify scientific information;11 2nd, all references were checked by my student George Petkides, and 3rd, were rechecked by Mr Theodoros Orfanides,, whose knowledge in cosmology is more than excellent. But, nevertheless, the book remains a story, a novel, and it should be treated as such, regardless of whatever scientific facts it might contain. Otherwise, how will it be possible to preclude possible underestimation of scientific knowledge or overestimation of a novel’s narrative?

At certain points, I mix science and myth. At other points, I use allegory. Yet at other points, I refer to scientific facts but using mythology. It is easy therefore for someone to get mixed up. Here is a useful piece of advice, then: Every time you come across a scientific fact or data, you should there and then resort to the pertinent science to corroborate it but also to increase your knowledge further in a pluralistic fashion. Let us also not forget that sciences are developing rapidly, so it is quite possible that at the time these words are being put on paper, science will have already made another step forward. If nothing else, the book will increase your knowledge.

Finally, the present book could, in a way, be used as a ‘study guide’ for a quick but full presentation of the most significant scientific milestones of humanity, offering the reader scientific and additional multilateral knowledge.

May you enjoy this read and have fun doing it! Have a nice trip in place and time, in knowledge and myth. Wander through the galaxies and planetary systems. Travel through wormholes and watch the forces of the universe at work. Relive the great natural disasters that caused extended mass destruction of many species from the face of the earth. Find out about the five greatest global extinction events on earth that caused, each one separately, from 50% to 90% extinction of the earth’s flora and fauna. Follow the historical developmental course of humankind through time and get to know it through the daily toil it was subjected to on its course to humanization. Enter a discourse with the philosophers of the past about their theories. Discover unknown sides of the history of man, compare and contrast the similarities and differences of autocratic regimes, just and unjust societies, and the demise of great empires. Discover when socialization and humanization started on earth. Finally, relax on an imaginary cloud and dream of intergalactic travel, remote civilizations and a better and fairer society. In the end, let us leave enough room in our mind for dreams and hope.

The first book has a distinct scientific content and this fact may make it a bit cumbersome for some readers. However, this book will gradually carry the reader from fact to myth, so that without realizing it, the reader will get lost in fantasy and this dream-like journey. This is a one-way journey. At the same time, however, the book ‘forces’ the reader into discovering new knowledge and develop his or her deductive and inductive cognitive processes. The 2nd book is a mix of scientific fact and imaginary mythological adventures. The 3rd book mainly includes heroic epics full of suspense and upturns, with Greek mythology and, of course, a lots of scientific and philosophical content. The books in the series beyond this have not yet been undertaken nor has their subject matter and content specified, although their general orientation is already clearly depicted in the table of contents. Their production will depends on the needs of society.

Welcome the first book and do not fret about the truly hard to digest parts you will find in the beginning. Even for the uninitiated in cosmology, what is required is a little patience for those points towards the end that require some background in cosmology. Instead of fretting, one should instead show interest, thus developing his or her personality in areas that, while significant, he or she did not happen to cross.

Whoever is interested in scientific knowledge, he or she see a good chance in the book to evaluate their knowledge and augment it wherever they may see fit. Others might find this book useful as a guide to versatile knowledge. You will rewarded for your patience in the second book that is pleasant, with heroic and adventurous content, even though that too, will also contain some scientific facts in the beginning. But your big reward will come with the third book in which you will enjoy a true adventure novel, full of the complete range of human emotion. Sorrow, joy, heroic acts, altruism, suspense, journey to remote lands, metaphysical stories, will move and follow you constantly. Upturns and downturns in the story will be unexpected and ongoing. In parallel, the reader shall have the opportunity to follow the evolutionary course of the human species throughout the centuries, with man’s progenitors partaking in every adventure.

So, travel, learn and dream! We believe that the surprises that follow discovery will be many while the acquired knowledge even more.

Antonis Anastasiadis

ATTENTION!

ADVICE: Readers who are not confident with math and physics of at least secondary level, should skip chapters 4.2 ‘New scientists take the lead’ to chapter 4.14 ‘Erntes’ paradox’. Of course, if one would like to take the chance to embark on a study of those disciplines, reading these chapters will contribute towards that end.

Note: Whatever similarity with names, descriptions, images, etc., to real people and events have nothing to do with those referred to in the present book. Scientists’ names that resemble the name of real scientists are in no way related to real persons or events that are fictionally described in this book. Whatever similarity is completely coincidental, apart from the names of Carl Sagan and Demetris Liantinis, which are used in fictional encounters. I do this to bestow honor to the two great scientists. The former had a critical impact on my intellectual development, since he was my beloved author and scientist since my youth who ‘guided’ me into cosmology and from whom I have learnt and to whom I owe much. The latter gave me answers to some unanswered questions and reflections of mine, but also because I admire his courage, sharp intellect and foresight. Very few have actually and truly understood him. Both left us too soon. They still had a lot to offer to human society.

The present book is therefore dedicated

to the memory of Karl Sagan,

Demetris Liantinis and Vasilis Xanthopoulos.

The Discovery of the White Crystal

The White Rod

It is a quiet summer afternoon at the ‘Waters of St Barbara’ at the city of Drama, Northern Greece, 1979. Quiet is everywhere with the only sounds being some vanishing chirping of birds and croaks of frogs. The ducks of the lake are slowly retreating towards their nests for the night. After a hot twelve-hour blast, nature prepares to welcome the redeeming night that will cool and refresh it. As the day wanes, everything becomes calm and tranquil. It is the time for the young couples to come to the green, watery oasis of the ‘Waters of St Barbara’, for their daily, usually unscheduled and unarranged date. Even loners frequent the place hoping to find their match. It the spot of the young and of love encounters.