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BOOKS & ARTS NATURE|Vol 448|5 July 2007 Parallel worlds and alternative histories Among ‘hard science-fiction’ writers, quan- gled in a vast web of parallel universes — having Jack Williamson, The Legion of Time (1938). A tum theory has become enormously influen- introduced us to three disparate periods in Bra- pulp classic. The hero meets women from two tial. It provides something of a rationale for zilian history, McDonald only gradually reveals possible futures that he may help determine. novels and stories that seek to question the the strange connections between them. fundamental nature of reality. Some of these Such authors strive to incorporate actual Philip K. Dick, The Man in the High Castle writers go so far as to provide calculations and developments in scientific theory into their fic- (1962). Among the best and most influential bibliographies to justify their fiction; others let tion. They “play with the net up” in the words alternative-world scenarios, in which the their imaginations roam independently, more of science-fiction writer and physicist Gregory Allies lost the Second World War. interested in metaphor than in theory. Benford. Among these authors, the many- For example, Frederik Pohl’s The Coming of worlds hypothesis has joined the vast arsenal Michael Moorcock, The Eternal Champion the Quantum Cats makes specific reference to of shaky but convenient speculations — along (series, 1962–present). Several series of quantum theory in a complex satirical tale. The with time travel, faster-than-light propulsion, interconnected novels set in a multiverse of main character encounters versions of himself uploadable minds, quantum computing and alternative realities. from different time-streams — in one, Nancy alien contact. These speculations, not yet fully Reagan is the US president, in another, Arabs testable in reality, provide continuing fodder Gregory Benford, Timescape (1981). One of rule the country. Meanwhile, the philosophical for the ongoing dialogue between scientifically science fiction’s most compelling accounts implications of quantum theory fascinate writ- literate fiction writers and practising theorists. of working scientists, dealing with cross-time ers as much as physicists. Greg Egan’s Quaran- Tracing the actual parameters of this dialogue communication to alter the past and thus tine begins as a detective thriller about a mental over the past century of physics and fiction create a variant future. patient who can apparently walk through walls; would be a daunting task, but it might well it ends up as a challenging speculation on the reveal, as Moorcock himself once put it, “the Stephen Baxter, The Time Ships (1995). This ambitious sequel to H. G. Wells’s The Time role of the observer in the collapse of the wave romantic imagination working … perfectly ■ Machine updates the classic tale with its function and how this might affect the many- efficiently in both the arts and the sciences.” notion of multiplicity of histories, and at one worlds thesis. Towards the end of Brasyl, Ian Gary Wolfe is professor of humanities and point directly alludes to Everett. McDonald suggests the mind itself may be a English at Roosevelt University, Chicago, function of a kind of quantum computer entan- Illinois 60605, USA. EXHIBITION Art shadowing science Systema metropolis by Mark Dion Natural History Museum, London, UK (15 June–2 September) Colin Martin American artist Mark Dion recently spent 18 months collaborating with scientists at Lon- don’s Natural History Museum, collecting and MUSEUM HISTORY M. DION/NATURAL identifying samples from four ‘hidden’ environ- ments across the metropolis — cemeteries, a main road, a park and along the River Thames, including a power-station outlet. “I’m not doing science,” he says. “I shadow aspects of the process to get to an essence of the desire to do those things.” The outcome of this investigation into the cross-fertilization between nature and urbanization in London is unveiled in an exhibition installed in five temporary pavilions in the museum’s Jerwood Gallery. The scene is set with Dion’s homage to Carl Linnaeus, whose binomial classifica- the soil will be kept alive throughout the exhibi- “I’m not conducting an experiment in strict tion system democratized botany and zoology, tion, housed in a contemporary herbarium. scientific terms, but for some people it’s enough enabling amateurs and professionals alike to Insects were collected by a device mounted to look the part,” he comments in an interview collect and classify specimens. It includes a on a car while driving along one of London’s published in the catalogue to a concurrent, bust of the Swede and other historical material busiest roads on 23 May, Linnaeus’s birthday. touring exhibition, The Natural History of the from the museum’s own collection. The species of the squashed specimens were Museum. This Dion retrospective charts his Photographs of the small invertebrates found determined by DNA analysis and photographs development as an artist, and is showing at the at three cemeteries — including East Finchley of intact specimens of the species displayed. Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg, Sweden, where evolutionist T. H. Huxley is buried — are Dion appropriates the methods, tactics and until 26 August (www.dunkerskulturhus.se) displayed in a simulated scientist’s workplace traits of science, to explore serious questions in and at Seedamm Kulturzentrum in Pfäffikon, (see picture). Another pavilion displays two a playful and subjective manner that scientists Switzerland, from 15 September to 11 Novem- square-metre samples of soil excavated from the cannot adopt. In his own words, he is able to ber (www.seedamm-kultur.ch). ■ 2012 Olympic Park. Fauna and flora colonizing act as a “lightning rod” for ideas about science. Colin Martin is a London-based writer. 26.

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