Ad Infinitum: A Science Fiction Novella about Time, Free Will, and Complexity

by Randall R. Scott

Ad A Science Fiction Novella about Time, Free Will, and Complexity is a hard science fiction novel that takes place in the near future -- the latter half of the twenty-first century. The story concerns the nature of time and its flow -- past, present, and future -- and whether the arrow of time is real or an illusion. If the flow of time is an illusion and the universe is deterministic, as Einstein's theories of relativity and the consequent "block universe" construct suggest, how does that bear upon the notion of free will? If, on the other hand, time and its arrow are real and fundamental, then the future may be open and human agency may play a central part in how the universe unfolds, especially in our corner of it. The story also introduces "the science of complexity," where everything is seen to influence everything else. This science of complexity has, by the year 2079, become the new paradigm of the scientific endeavor. Accordingly, both the classical theories of relativity and quantum mechanics, as well as other physical sciences, feature heavily in this exciting narrative.

Genres: Science Fiction

62 pages, Paperback

Published August 25, 2020

Reviews

[David Oppong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unparalleled

[Spencer S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to write a review for this book because there was very little info about this on goodreads and Amazon.

Given the lack of review resources, I did not really know what to expect, and taking the dive required a mindset of exploration. The book was very hard science fiction, with the backdrop of MIT sometimes it felt like a theoretical physics lecture, but this is extremely my shit.

Randall R Scott shows no respect to sacred cows in the field of physics. (Or an extreme amount of respect? I think questioning unquestioned fundamentals of a field, like Einsteins theory of relativity, shows respect, in a weird way) What we get as the reader is a very entertaining 60 pages that leans heavily on a theoretical physics based mythology.

It reminded of Philip K Dicks writing style.

I can think of worse ways to spend your time, and if you like hard science fiction check this out. I will be reading the next 2 books in the series.

Also, I hope the author reads this since I might be the first review. So I will address him directly, “Ya did good, created an entertaining novella that has not gotten as much attention it deserves. I am excited to see what you do in the future.”

Forgive the brevity and misspellings for I am on mobile.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a treat! Its a fairly short story, but remarkably DENSE. This is about as hard as hard science fiction gets. Prepare for a lot of in depth quantum mechanics and theoretical physics. Not quite a story, but definitely an experience. Scott presents complex ideas in ways a layman like me could follow. Give it a shot if you want to stretch your brain a bit.

[Sergio Segura]

Like the acknowledgements say, this reads like a Sean Carroll or Brian Greene book, a piece of science writing (usually minus the math) meant to introduce something like evolution or string theory to a lay audience. In this case, it's diving into the 2079 confirmation of the physicality of time (versus the whole "time is an illusion" paradigm) by a team at MIT, during which "purified time" is briefly separated from the drag of spacetime when forward-time-traveling electrons and backward-time-traveling positrons enter a superposition under an extremely strong, manufactured gravitational field, creating a "temporal hole" or "time bubble" and producing evidence for the time-carrying particle, dubbed the "chronon". It goes into the background and education (academic lineage and institutions and such) of the researchers involved, highlights some of the developments in mid-to-late 21st century science leading up to that event, and introduces plenty of interesting terms and ideas. Overall, a short, engaging work of fictional future science journalism.

[Sue Dounim · Rating 5 out of 5]

My idiosyncratic star rating. Do not expect a story with some kind of a dramatic arc or well-delineated characters. As mentioned in other reviews, this is truly speculative fiction, footnoted like a journal paper.
I got a M.S. in Physics in 1981. On that date I was probably more or less up to date with current thinking in the field. Now, over 40 years later reading Randall Scott's short work, it is breathtaking to see how much has changed in the field. I've kept up in a very casual way with science in general thanks to good shows on Nova and National Geographic, but this is really a deep dive into speculative cosmology. By setting the story not too far into the future, he can reference some early 21st-Century works.
I have terrific admiration for Randall Scott's passion to keep up with the latest scientific theories as basically an interested layman. It gives me hope for the world that there are more like him out there.