Timeline by Michael Crichton

The novel Timeline by Michael Crichton was a good read and by far one of the more interesting books I’ve read this summer. The story is divided into three parts (Corazon, Black Rock, Castlegard) and deals with the scientific study of quantum physics* to send people to different universes similar to our own. The multiuniverse theory* is the belief that other universes besides our own exists. The book is straight forward for the most part, but does get seemingly complex at times. The difficult part about this report is that it is a story as a whole and is science fiction for that matter. If it were an analysis of historical events, then this task would be a tad bit easier. The story incorporates quantum physics and other scientific relations, so I’ll try to refrain from retelling the entire story.

Robert Doniger is the head of a company called ITC. He is a Stanford graduate and is a renowned physicist, known for his wealth and vulgar character. He has several companies all over the world, but ITC, located in New Mexico, is the one he focuses on most. Why? ITC is working on new quantum technology; technology that Doniger believes may change the world. However, this has remained a secret since his project is still a work in progress. Our protagonists would soon figure out.

ITC also funds several historical excavation sites throughout the world. One is located in the regions of France, near medieval sites and castles that have been long gone since the 14th century. The head of this excavation is Professor Edward Johnston, and along with his fellow students he is trying discover information in order to rebuild the site. The students whom are very close to the Professor are Chris Hughes, Kate Erickson, Andre Marek, and David Stern. They, along with the Professor, are essential characters who make up the bulk of the story.

One day, the Professor is required to go to New Mexico to speak with Doniger himself to work out some issues. He told his students that he’d only be away for a couple of days. The students continued with their task, and yet when several days rolled past they still hadn’t heard from the professor. At this point, the students were concerned and when new documents were found at the site it made the situation even worse. Inside was message a message that said “HELP ME” dated back at 4/7/ 1357, and it was written with the Professor’s very own hand writing. Chris, Kate, Andre, and David were later called by ITC to inform that they needed them. The Professor was gone and it was up to them to get him back.

So how did the Professor manage to go back to the 14th century? I assume you know with the given information above that the Professor somehow “time traveled” back to the 14th century. As good as that may sound, an ITC member explains that time travel doesn’t make sense. “The very concept of time travel makes no sense, since time doesn’t flow.” Rather than time travel, ITC has developed a form of space travel. This allows human beings to go through alternate universes through tiny worm holes. How? ITC uses quantum technology to allow humans to do this. They’ve developed computers, quantum computers that allow humans to be compressed into very small particles or data. They simply step into a machine; it scans them, processes and compresses a three dimensional figure to the size of a JPEG or MPEG file. They then use electrons to transfer the data through a worm hole, which they call “quantum foam” in the novel. Once through the worm hole they’ll be recreated in the other universe and their only means of escape is ceramic box with a button which will transfer a machine to get them out.

The rest of the novel depicts Chris, Kate, and Andre going through these steps and eventually transiting them back to the 14th century. David stayed back at ITC to over look the machines if anything went wrong. This point of the story is filled with action as danger seemed to be behind every corner. (I mean literally, something always goes wrong with in a minute or so! It’s pretty crazy.) Chris, Kate, and Andre found themselves in a period where a war between two opposing castles has just erupted. Their objective is to go rescue the Professor and send them back to their universe. They have to avoid all the dangers as knights are going around killing peasants, betrayal, and have to complete the objective within thirty – seven hours. They also risk transcription errors on their trip back if there’s anything wrong with the machines at the way back. The remainder of the story focuses on the plot and resolution.

*Quantum physics is the study of energy particles at the subatomic level (meaning very small, smaller than an atom). A heavily used experiment to observe the movements of these particles is the double slit experiment. You take two walls and face them towards each other. One has a double slit and is facing the other. Shine a light through the slits and vertical bars appear on the other wall. However, the more slits, the less bars appear on the other side. This shows energy has a wave like motion. (pgs. 110 – 115)

*The multiuniverse theory is another concept that can be tested relating to quantum physics. At first the pattern above was thought to form because of interference with photons from the light waves themselves. Photons are a unit of light energy, one light particle. It was thought that the particles in a wave made each other align the way they did. However, an experiment allowing only one particle to go through the slits at a time revealed that it still aligned in the same pattern. This shows that there’s not interference with in the light projected but suggests that interference comes from somewhere beyond. (pgs. 110-115)

I found it hard to understand, or believe these concepts for that matter. Then again, the novel said that not many people understand these concepts themselves, even the most intelligent. The two explanations above I received through reading the pages listed, which gives a through step by step explanation of the double slit experiment. Also I read a source relating to quantum physics. A quote found in the book states “Nobody understands quantum theory” – Richard Feynman.

Lastly, as I said at the very beginning, this book is science fiction. The scenarios portrayed in this book could very well be possible. Quantum physics is an actual study in science, and the multiuniverse theory is linked with the study of quantum physics. If this scenario became real, I believe it’d affect society greatly. For better or worse, I don’t know. I suppose it all depends on how we use it, but the possibilities are endless.