C. Khalili .. Literary references

A Window to the World – "Sunset" (2019, Bantam Press), title of a science fiction novel in which the author proposes a possible end of the world, with the disappearance and spread of cosmic rays. The opportunities offered by the reality of many alarming concerns have rarely attracted attention as in our time. In addition to narrative content, the novel raises many questions, such as the ability to transfer science through literature to as many readers as possible and the role of science as a field capable of explaining the world beyond myths, religions and pluralism.

Jim al-Khalili (born in Baghdad, 1962) is a British physicist of Iraqi origin who specializes in quantum biology, a field dealing with quantum phenomena in biological structures. He has already received the Michael Faraday Award. He is a member of the British Royal Society. He has published scientific works translated into many languages, including the physics of Satan, Maxwell, the paradoxes of physics and the physics of life. On his specialty in physics.

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The novel offers a disastrous world but science appears as a savior
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In an interview with the cultural attaché of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Khalili was asked: Why did you choose to transmit science through the story? "Everyone says that he has a book on the stairs." "For me, it was different." Four years ago (2015), I published the Physics of Life, and the editor of the publishing house asked me: And now, what would you write on? In a few moments, the project took shape and I became obsessed with writing the novel. J & # I immediately understood that it would be science fiction, because I am a scientist and that is my specialty, but I love reading novels. Age. "

There are many contributions to famous literary writers, the most famous of which is the chemist Isaac Azimov (1920-1992), and also attends the astronomer Karl Sagan (1934-1996), who contributes significantly to the simplification of astronomy, astrophysics and other natural sciences.

Khalili will probably enter this circle if he continues to write literature, because his first novel has all the assets to enter the literary world by its wide doors, especially as it has a narrative work and we do not will find in its text that accurate scientific information.

Khalili's writing is characterized by a smooth and credible structure: the protagonists act according to the excitement of John Gresham and Michael Crighton. The sunset begins with a global disaster and therefore a mixture of excitement between politics and science. In 2041, in a world organized by artificial intelligence, many emergencies, the first of which is climate change, which results in heavy loss of life due to the exposure of the Earth to lethal emissions . For the sun

So immediately begins the novel breathless. Events move from one place to another in New Zealand, where the aurora borealis appears to the north rather than the south, then we leave for New Delhi, where a plane crashes during the landing. because of a malfunctioning communications satellite, caused by the explosion of high-energy space particles and an unprecedented cyclone in the country. The Bahamas

These are the main signs of the end of the world: in a few hours, coronal mass emissions will reach the Earth, a huge explosion of solar wind and the ejected material will consist mainly of electrons and protons, as well as small amounts of heavier elements, such as helium, oxygen and iron. When the cloud reaches the ground, it can disrupt its magnetic envelope by squeezing it into the sunlit area and expanding it to the unlit area.

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The author draws attention to quantum theory and its analysis of the paradoxes of physics
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To avoid panic among the population, local authorities are hiding the truth and some have even started talking about mass extinctions, as was the case with dinosaurs millions of years ago. This insoluble question will first be passed on to a team of four scientists – two men and two women – who, based on their courage, knowledge and innovation, will try to save what can be saved in life. engaging in a fierce race against time.

If Khalili had described in his previous books the strange world of Quantum and the paradoxes of physics and many other things, and when he decided to try himself, the story seemed to have moved to another level of this description and result of this novel, which shows the names of real characters from the world of physics as Fabiola Janotti (Rome 1960) who She became general director of CERN collider in Geneva in 2016 and announced the discovery of the Higgs boson , one of the most remarkable achievements of physics of the last century.

Janoti appears as a double icon: she is actually part of an imaginary world created by Khalili. In the novel, the current director of the CERN collider appears in two forms: identical to that which would appear 20 years later, as an "old woman and able scientist", and as an incarnation of the Artificial intelligence. Highly advanced, called "spirit", which manages and controls the giant structure of the new CERN collider, stands as a holographic avatar, a holographic avatar and an avatar is a Sanskrit word that designates the incarnation of God and responds to all those who ask for it "in a stable English mixed with an Italian accent." A vision that is not without melancholy or wit, but the message that Khalili wants to convey to the reader finally seems optimistic, giving him confidence in himself and in the awaited status of savior of science.

Khalili has attracted the attention of millions of readers by describing the extraterrestrial world to quantum theory, analyzing the paradoxes of physics and relating the great Arab scientific tradition, with the most surprising and most surprising hypothesis. dangerous links that can unexpectedly link quantum physics and biology. He has become a well-known figure in Italy and his lectures and meetings today bring together hundreds of people who are amazed at his natural sense, his spontaneity and his ability to explain very difficult theories. Not surprisingly, it's a great storyteller that he's now decided to follow the story.

This time he proposes a novel in the literary sense of the term, attractive in itself, full of intrigue, science and fiction. Perhaps he started to abandon the role of physicist and felt that he should play the role of narrator. He admits that the writing of this novel has cost him more effort than the theoretical work submitted to peer review, a peer-reviewed examination indispensable for publication in a world-renowned scientific journal.

The result is a superbly constructed, science-free science fiction novel that leads us to the next 1940s, during which humanity overcame, but with heavy losses, the climate crisis, where artificial intelligence predominates and the influence of the Earth's magnetic field contracts. It is in this context that Al-Khalili supports us in placing ourselves, along with his many colleagues in science fiction literature, facing challenges that have become a new reality. strength of our contemporary life.

* Syrian writer based in Italy