Mr g

Whether the gifts of intellectual, artistic and athletic excellence are apportioned by deities, genetic endowment, or blind chance, nobody denies the fact that they are apportioned unevenly. Consider Alan Lightman. He is a professor of theoretical physics and the humanities at MIT with cross-appointments at Harvard in both - theoretical physics and the humanities, specifically the art of writing. Clearly he was dealt a really good hand in life's lottery of gifts and burdens. Some years ago he wrote a best-selling novel, or novella, Einstein's Dreams, a beautifully, lyrically written story about time. Einstein, the Albert Einstein who conceived the theory of relativity, appears as a character in this novel, which could be loosely described as a metaphysical novel about Time as one of the fundamental constants of physics. Except that Time isn't a physical constant in this novel. As we all know from personal experience, time can move rapidly or slowly, can even stop altogether, can move in a circle. Indeed, it's a profound, light-hearted, challenging, thought-provoking, provocative work. Knowledge and understanding of theoretical physics aren't essential prerequisites but helped me to appreciate the book. If you haven't read it, do so.  Now Alan Lightman has done it again with another beautifully written little masterpiece, Mr g,  about how (and why?) god created the universe, or universes, and everything in it, or in them, starting with Time, then Space, then everything else. It's a lovely little book, modest, unassuming, great fun. Lightman has obviously thought very deeply about every detail, starting with lower-case 'g' for god, a modest creature whose Aunt Penelope and Uncle Deva respectively disapprove and are bewildered by Mr g's decision to create the universe and everything in it. Like Einstein's Dreams, Mr g is profound, light-hearted, serious, thought provoking, provocative, beautifully written. Read it!