Glass Bead Game

Hesses's novel posits an imaginary world in which spiritual values emerge dynamically as a game with musical and mathematical elements is played. The rules of the game draw from the sciences and arts, and express interrelationships among all areas of knowledge. As a result, it encompasses all aspects of culture and can lead to a full understanding of reality.

That sounds remarkably close to the basic premise of Harmonious Universe where developments in particle physics become the structure of the game. The metaphors of particle physics, waves, particles, fields, dimensions, entanglement...create a vision of a transcendent world where the mysteries of life are resolved.

The deeper we penetrate the atom and its nucleus the more fuzzy the core of reality seems. Electrons which orbit the nucleus are not "things", but are more like clouds of virtual reality. The quarks which make up the protons and neutrons in the nucleus may be stringlike objects whose vibrations in dimensions beyond our own create the elements of our world.

These particles may not exist at all, except as part of a web of connections made manifest by fields of virtuality.

In The Music of the Spheres, Jamie James starts out with a "Great Theme", "Picture to yourself, if you can, a universe in which everything makes sense. A serene order presides over the earth around you, and the heavens above revolve in sublime harmony.

Everything you can hear and see and know is an aspect of the ultimate truth: the noble simplicity of a geometric theorem, the predictability of the movement of the heavenly bodies, the harmonious beauty of a well-proportioned fugue-all are reflections of the essential perfection of the universe."

James goes on to demonstrate, through a journey through Western thought, how a loss of transcendence in the Industrial Revolution and Romantic movement dulled our sense of wonder and awe at the sheer power of the universe.

Harmonious Universe puts the sense of wonder back into our souls. A physical universe of mystery and beauty evolves into a mental and spiritual universe of unlimited possibility.

A convergence is now occurring. In the late 18th century, a group of amazing intellects created a country which has been a beacon of hope for all peoples for centuries. In the 1960's, developments in the sciences, arts, and politics were pointing to a new age of truth beauty and justice.

In 2009 a new Administration entered Washington on a wave of hope that mirrors that in the sciences of finding deep truths.

We are beginning a process of transforming the American economy into one which will provide hope for centuries to come. We will need wisdom, courage, strength and integrity.

We can move our society forward in a way that assures that future generations will have the opportunities we have had.

Yes we can.

Lee