The Great Symmetry (39 page)

Chronology

2040: Peak of the Combustapalooza. Over three billion people died during the next twenty years due to a combination of global warming, resource depletion, and the resulting wars.

2060-2120: The Long Comeback

2136: First successful return to Earth from another star system, through a circuit of three hyperspace glomes

2159: First habitable exo planet, Phoenix, discovered

2180: Kelter discovered

2186: Buttonwood tree planted on Kelter

2204: Axiom born

2234: Untrusted Zone founded on Kelter

2260-68: The Fencing of the Commons

2267: Kate DelMonaco born

2269: Evan McElroy born

2272: Mira Adastra born

2294-2301: Valley of Dreams expeditions on Kelter

2302: Discovery of well-preserved Versari data storage devices on Aurora

2303: Anna and William DelMonaco die in a space travel accident

2304: Present day

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Jan Bressler, the very first reader of
The Great Symmetry
. Her simple act of reading the entire first draft, and her encouragement about the value inside, helped provide me with energy to power through rest of the journey to completion.

Mariko Thompson did excellent editing and reviewing on the manuscript, pointing out numerous opportunities to improve internal consistency, character development, and tone.

Alan Canon, Elizabeth R. Apgar Triano, Mike Newsome, Frank James, and Susan Hansen provided many and detailed review comments and edits.

Noble Smith has provided review comments, encouragement, and guidance on navigating the publication process.

Thanks for thoughtful review comments to early readers Ian Baren, Michael Brooks, Andy Klapper, Eleanor Brown, Nan Brown, Joe Shapiro, Mike Cowlishaw, and Marley Magee.

Rachel Budelsky related
the saying about the shabby donkeys.

With many thanks to the community of writers and environmental activists in the Pacific Northwest, at our great watchdog paper Whatcom Watch, and on the Daily Kos web site, who helped me to find my writing voice.

When I was eight years old, my Aunt Katy read the first thirty pages of The Hobbit aloud to me, then handed me the book, saying I would have to read the rest if I wanted to know how it ended.

Sara Wells
and Katie Jane Wells supported the project of writing
The Great Symmetry
far beyond the bounds of reason, putting up with me staying up past midnight for months at a time and otherwise not doing all those other things I can’t wait to get back to.

End Notes

Glome
is a real word, meaning hypersphere, also called a 3-sphere.

Infoterrorist
is a term coined in the early 21
st
century, to describe the use of information technology for the purpose of spreading terror, dissent, or freedom.

“
Knowledge screams to be free
” is based on the phrase “information wants to be free,” ascribed to Stewart Brand in the 1960s.

The Abilene Consensus
is based on the Abilene Paradox, a term first used by Jerry B. Harvey, in 1974.

De Beers Method
is named after the diamond cartel of that name.

The
Buttonwood Tree
was the site where the New York Stock Exchange was founded in 1792. Since then, the word “buttonwood” has sometimes been used to refer to core underlying issues relating to money.

“
Fly casual
” is a quote from Han Solo in the movie Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

The Seven Sisters
is a term used by Enrico Mattei to describe the seven companies that dominated the global petroleum industry in the middle of the 20
th
century. The term also refers to the mythical daughters of Atlas, and the Pleiades star cluster.

A Drop of Water
is an iconically great song by musician Dana Lyons (www.cowswithguns.com).

Jeetertech
is a method of artistic fabrication named by Louisville, KY multimedia artist Scott Scarboro in the 20
th
century.

Merchants of Doubt
is a book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, about scientists recruited to create doubt about the harm from pollution.

Klono
is a deity from the immortal Lensman series, by Doc Smith. The concept of
Intrinsic Velocity
is also discussed extensively in the Lensman series.

Effessem
is a deity with an enthusiastic and colorful following here in the 21
st
century.

“Shabby Donkeys
will find each other even over nine hills” is apparently a Bulgarian folk saying, as related by Rachel Budelsky.

Orwen
is descended from someone of the same name who appeared in The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander. Or perhaps she is the same person.

Combustapalooza
is something I made up, for an article about global warming.

Friend
: When my daughter was about five years old, the words “friend” and “person” were synonyms for her. I have watched with sadness as she has necessarily learned the distinction, and imagine that someday in the future, she will unlearn it.

The Great Symmetry
has been described by many phrases though history, and is something that almost everyone understands intuitively.

Blowing Cave
is named in homage to Overholt Blowing Cave in West Virginia. My father was on the climbing crew that completed the first ascent of the 4
th
waterfall, using bolts, during a 3-day trip into this wet and difficult cave in the early 1960’s. Another waterfall was found, just beyond. Daddy, I will always miss you.

About The Author

James R. Wells
is a life-long cave explorer and outdoor adventurer. He has led expeditions deep into some of North America’s great caves, including the Mammoth system, longest cave in the world.

He writes about climate and environmental topics, and volunteers helping people to protect their community and habitat. In his day job, he designs information systems that reduce energy use, saving money and reducing pollution. He is the great-grandson of pioneering science fiction author H.G. Wells.

The author lives in northwest Washington with his wife and his daughter.

The author’s web site can be found at

www.TheGreatSymmetry.com
.