Grand Unified Theory I: The most tiny quantity of reality...

Mar 2014
(0:06:40)

This oboe solo is the first of a series of works inspired by the universe (and writings and theories about it).

Program Note

"... the most tiny quantity of reality ever imagined by a human being." -Frederick Reines, co-discoverer of the neutrino


Very tiny particles are flying through space all around us. Neutrinos, also known as "cosmic rays" bombard us at an estimated rate of 65 billion per second - for every square centimeter on Earth. So tiny are these, that most pass between and through our atoms without so much as a wink or a nod. But in the amazingly rare occasion that they encounter another particle (such as the colossal immensity of a proton), amazing displays of spiraling fireworks occur. They detonate in a fury of whirling explosions, shattering open and hurling out ever more wonderous particles inside. All of this occurring in the "tiniest quantity of reality ever imagined by a human being."