A New World
Copyright© 2026 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 1: Alice’s Death
Maclaren Fix-IT-Shop and home
Balerno, Scotland
Monday, May 17, 1999
You wouldn’t think you lived at the bottom of a lake. Well, that is the type of little thing which can mess up an experiment and kill you or, in this case, your wife.
Alice was seated at the computer while she entered the setting to have the window open into world 4. Hopefully, this world would be a better candidate for exploring from here, but our other three locations may have better access to the first two worlds. She had refined her calculations with the results from opening windows to the first two worlds, so she didn’t have to make adjustments. When the window opened, the water rushed in. Only about a hundred gallons, but when you are sitting at a computer controlling 25KW of power, you will get a spectacular short.
Within a second, her life ended, and mine was torn asunder.
The Scotsman, May 18, 1999 - Douglas Richards - obit for Dame Alice Farwell Maclaren
Maclaren, Dame Alice Farwell
Dame Alice Farwell Maclaren, 54, died of electrocution while conducting an experiment with her husband, Jess. The cause of death is believed to be a fault in the sprinkler system. Her son-in-law, John Lawrence III, said that efforts by EMTs Sue and Ned Douglass, Sgt. Jim McPherson, and Jess Maclaren had failed to revive Dame Alice.
Dame Alice is survived by husband Jess Maclaren, daughter Professor Marie Maclaren Lawrence and son-in-law John Harvey Lawrence III, M.P., daughter Dr. Kimberly Maclaren Reynolds and son-in-law Robert Reynolds, grandchildren Karen Alice Lawrence, John Jess Lawrence IV, Leslie LeeAnn Lawrence, Jason Reynolds, Eric Reynolds, Jerome Reynolds, and Alice Elizabeth Reynolds, mother Edna Cowan Farwell, sister Dr. Professor Margaret Farwell Gillon, and brother Reverend Alan Farwell Jr.
Dame Alice was a professor at the University of Edinburgh and Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Once described as the greatest mathematician in the last fifty years, she in recent years had cut back her work with the Maxwell Institute to concentrate on private research. This followed the disastrous reception of her Theory of Adjacent Worlds...
Maclaren Fix-IT-Shop and home
Balerno, Scotland
June 3, 1994
Jesse had been in the shop, cleaning the remains of a slice of bread with peanut butter out of Sarah Patterson’s VCR. Her toddler, Matthew, had thought it was a toaster and had plopped the slice in. That wouldn’t have been too bad if he had told his mother. They hadn’t found out until his father, Jim, had tried to put a tape in that evening. The tape was ruined, and peanut butter and bread were everywhere. This was the type of job Jesse liked to do for the neighbors, and it added to the joke of his workshop’s name, Maclaren Fix-IT-Shop. The shop was far more than a small repair shop. Jess had a complete electronics laboratory, machine shop, paint shop, and some woodworking machines. Many of the local boys had once come by as much for the shop as for their two daughters and their girlfriends. Their girls were now long gone with kids of their own, so he enjoyed the breaks these types of jobs gave him. It kept him grounded in the neighborhood.
Alice came in from the garden carrying her notebook. “Jess, I have the proof for my co-located world theorem.”
Jess looked up and smiled. “Honey, unless you can show them one of these adjacent worlds, very few will believe any equations you can show them.”
She came over and gave him a hug and a kiss. “That’s the problem with your physical types. You need to touch something to make it real.”
He turned and embraced her. “No, we just enjoy the touching.” After a long kiss, he pulled back and smiled at the woman that he had loved since they were toddlers. “OK, give me 5 or 10 minutes to close up and check the VCR, and I’ll look at your proof. Not that I’ll know how you came up with it, but you have them so well laid out before you tell us physical types about them, we can’t help but be impressed.”
Later at the kitchen table, Jess looked up from the notebook. “Well, your mathematics certainly provides a convincing argument, but Will and I have believed you for over forty years. We will still need to show people this adjacent world before they’ll believe.”
Alice put down her glass. “Not one world. Four definitely. Probably no more than fifty. I need to have data to refine my calculations. I do like the name adjacent worlds better.”
“Well, one is all you will need to show.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I think we may be able to build one of the windows ourselves.”
“Well, I’m just a simple tinkerer. Our plan has always been to be part of the government program to develop the equipment and explore a new world.”
Alice smiled at Jess. “Well, those little toys of yours put the additions on the house, the girls through college, and enough money in the bank so neither of us has to work.”
“Yes, but you love to show off the beauty of your math, and I like to tinker, so we don’t work; we play.”
Alice smiled and nodded in agreement, but then the smile was gone. “I had another dream. It’s time to tell the girls. I know they’ve suspected something for a long while. Marie first. I could use her help with the calculations, but also John. His family owning Smythe-Industries will be a big help in the future, as will his father’s position in the cabinet. Not right away, but Marie shouldn’t have to keep this a secret from her husband. When we visit Kim and Rob this summer, Beth and Tom will be there. Rob will help you design the integrated circuit we will need for the windows, then Tom can present another one of your marvelous inventions to Texas Instruments. Also, Trail Drive International will help us in the states, just like Leslie’s family’s Macphater Mining Equipment will work with us in Australia. Will has told Leslie about what we have been working on.” Alice stopped talking and watched as Jesse thought through the implications of what she had said.
“That’s why you had us hunting and riding at Trail Drive Ranch last summer, but S-I and MME weren’t your selection. You are guiding them into the direction where they will be able to help.” He stopped talking and considered something. “No, you didn’t do anything to have the girls fall in love with Rob and John. Well, you made sure that Marie would meet John, but I remember the surprise on your face when you first saw Rob. He was three, and we hadn’t seen Beth and Tom for four years.” Jesse chuckled. If you want my help in setting anything up, let me know. I’m always here to help you. How are we going to keep the windows secret if we are having TI make the ICs?”
“The ICs will also be used to provide power for the windows. What TI will build will have two uses. One will be a power controller which will control electric power generation, but the other will be the controller for the windows.”
“Power generation?”
“When I was completing the proof today, I noticed my equations also show how to generate power from the potential between two locations in space. Your patent for the power generation will earn us and TI more than the calculator patent.”
The Scotsman, April 17, 1974 – article on award of patent
The British Patent Office has granted a patent to Jesse Montgomery Maclaren of Balerno for a handheld arithmetic machine. Mr. Maclaren has nineteen other patents. In an era of large engineering companies, Mr. Maclaren operates an independent engineering shop.
...
Note to Professor Elizabeth Reynolds from Professor Alice Maclaren.
Beth,
I hope you, Tom, and the children are well. With Kim in school, Jess has more time to devote to his work. He has made a three-seat bike to take the girls back and forth to school. He says that the kilometer ride to Dean Park Primary School is good exercise for them and helps the girls be more alert in school. He promises to take the car when the weather gets bad. I think that he misses the girls while they are at school. I told him that they would want to go on their own when they are older. He has a number of requests for the bikes from parents. Most of them are mothers with young children that want to exercise and bring their children along. The bikes are adjustable so that as the children grow, they will grow with them. It has seats with sides and belts so that even young children can ride along. He requires the parents to sign a pledge that the children wear helmets. He is providing the helmets at no charge. I have enclosed a clip from the local paper showing Jess and the girls along with Rachael Morton and her daughter Sue, Marie’s best friend, on the bikes.
My paper on strings was accepted for the conference in Los Angeles next summer. Thanks for reviewing it. Jess and the girls will accompany me. The girls are excited about visiting Disneyland. It would be nice if Tom, Rob, and Lynn could accompany you. They could join Jess and the girls in exploring Disneyland. We would also like to spend a while visiting you after the conference. Jess plans to rent a car and drive to Texas. We will stop and see Yosemite, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Indian reservations, and a whole lot of other places. After the sightseeing, a week spent with you would be welcome for more than just catching up with you.
Jess has a European patent for an arithmetic machine that is similar to one that Tom’s company, Texas Instruments, has just received. It started as an example for Jaguar to show the potential of integrated circuits. Jess has an idea to control car engines with integrated circuits and needed a simple example. The girls loved it. They use it to practice their math. I caught Marie the other day doing four-figure multiplications as fast as the calculator does. I think that we will have another mathematician in the family. Jess decided to apply for a patent and it was granted last February. Jess is modifying the math machine to do square and cube roots. I told him that he would have to work hard to stay ahead of the girls and what was needed was a small computer. He agreed that a computer would be better. He spent the next two days down in the workshop. When he came out, he said that it was possible but that it might be four or five years before some of the necessary items would be developed.
Anyway, the patent needs a large company. We thought to have Tom present the enclosed letter offering Jesse’s patent to TI for a percentage of profit and royalties. We feel that having all the patents in one company would be better than having competing patents and companies. I have enclosed the letter from Jess and a copy of the patent.
Love,
Alice
Dallas Morning News November 16, 1974 – Business section
Texas Instruments has announced that it has been granted exclusive rights to the European patent for handheld arithmetic machines. This consolidates two competing patents for calculators. TI spokesperson Michael Jones said that the patent was secured with no outlay of cash...
The Scotsman, November 19, 1974
Jess Maclaren of Balerno has assigned his patent for a handheld arithmetic machine to Texas Instruments. The agreement gives Mr. Maclaren 5% of the profit or 1% of sales whichever is greater and 25% of royalties for calculators built by other companies...
Maclaren Fix-IT-Shop and home
Balerno, Scotland
Monday morning, May 17, 1999
Jess was at the workbench with a circular construct with a thirty-centimeter opening. Four sets of heavy power cables ran to a fan-cooled control box, which connected to the control computer on the workbench and with heavier power cables to one of the prototype AJ power generators. An oscilloscope and a second computer for sensor reading connected to a box collecting data from dozens of sensors on the construct. The equipment would provide the data Alice needed to verify her theory of adjacent worlds.
Jess checked the readings on the sensor computer and then made a note in a lab notebook. Next, he initiated a program on the control computer, which would calibrate each of the force axes of the construct. The first power setting of the first axis automatically adjusted to the initial value. Automatic fine adjusts were made. The program proceeded to the next setting and again made the fine adjustments. The calibration continued until one hundred settings for each of the axes have been computed. The settings for each axis were graphed in different colors on the sensor computers monitor. Jess looked over the graphs. After seeing no major problems, he initiated the analysis of the settings. Within a minute, these results were displayed. He compared them to the tolerances to which they had agreed. He smiled and commented to himself, “Almost three times better than what we require. Not bad for the first try.”
He next checked over the data from all the field sensors for each of the runs. With only one force axis powered at a time, none of the readings showed any more than background readings. He selected the upload button on the calibration program. The computer requested an ID and password. He smiled at the happy memory the password was related to for easy remembering. The day and place he had proposed to Alice. She entered the workshop as he entered them.
Jess looked up. “Hi honey! I just uploaded the settings for the axis controls to the FPGAs in the control box. I’m glad Rob insisted on adding them to the controller design. The response time is at least 100 times better than direct computer control, and all four axes are synchronized. After breakfast, we can make the first try.” He took a last check at each of the computer screens. “All the readings were well within our limits.”
Alice looked over the equipment. “Sounds great. Are the cameras ready?”
“All the recorders are loaded with videotape. The synchronizing time display message is mixed into each video feed. We should be able to correlate all the views.”
“OK, I’ll get my notes and then start breakfast. Scrambled or omelet?”
“Scrambled,” Jess replied. “I will be there in a bit to help.”
A while later, Alice and Jess returned to the shop.
Jess reviewed the operation of the control program with Alice. “The Window Control program is set for null output. Enter your values for the four fields in these boxes. There are sliders to the right of the entry boxes for fine adjustments. When you select Start, the fields will change to your settings. You can adjust each about 1% with the primary sliders. The secondary sliders are a hundred times as sensitive as the primary. The program will record all the settings and the window sensor readings along with the time and date info that it is adding to the videos. Data is updated every tenth of a second, so go slow on the adjustments.”
Alice smiled at her husband. Once again, his work had met her needs exactly without having to tell him what was needed. “As expected, everything I will need is easy to use. I have settings for four worlds. The data from the fine adjustments will allow me to refine my calculations. I will do that during the flight to Maryland. Hard to believe we will have seven grandchildren. At least it’s not twins this time.”
“Well, you and the girls were all eager to start families off early.” Jess joked.
Alice placed her notebook on the desk away from the computer and equipment. “Yes, and we had the husbands to help us with that task and still let us finish school and start a career. Kim said now she has a girl that she would hold off on any more for a while. She wants to be able to explore with us. Having new life forms to investigate has her very excited.”
Jess picked up the video camera on the probe arm. He played it across Alice and equipment. “Yes, but we’ll be setting up colonies so it isn’t like children will not be born in the new worlds. Did she have anything more about the bacteria she saw pop into her microscope?”
As she sat down at the computer, Alice shook her head. “No. Marie agrees the equations allow micro-windows. Under certain conditions, short-duration windows around a few microns wide can open up spontaneously. This is probably good for us. Those micro-windows allow cross-contamination of viruses and bacteria. With these micro-windows, all of the worlds will have compatible flora and fauna. The diseases will be similar across the worlds. Not much different than going to the Orient.”
Alice called up the program and started to enter the parameters. “Focus on the opening of the window. We want to get data from the other side as fast as possible. We may be poking into someone’s bedroom, and I know how I would feel about that.”
Jess laughed. “The number 2 camera is fixed on the window. The last two cameras are in opposite corners of the room, so everything is recorded. I am also recording what is displayed on the monitors. The number 1 camera is for probing through the window and recording what isn’t visible from this side. I should be able to point it everywhere but directly behind the window.”
“I should have known, between you, Alyca, and Mary, everything would be covered.” Alice smiled at Jess. She was glad Jess had found in his two nieces kindred spirits. Their oldest daughter, Marie, had found the same love of describing the world through mathematics that she had. She had known for years Marie was a better mathematician than she was and would someday surpass her. Enough of this wool-gathering. “Initiating the first settings!”
Pause. “OK, all the axes are up.” She looked over at the construct. “No window. Let me make some adjustments.” She looked at the sensor readings. “Axes one and three look good. Axis two needs some positive adjustment, and axis four needs a slight negative adjustment.” “There, the window sensors are showing alignment.”
Jess walked towards the first window into another world. He had the camera on the probe arm extended before him. “Well, we’ve got sunshine coming in. That shows we’ve got some other place since it is raining today. Boy, the air is cold. Grab the indoor-outdoor thermometer off the windowsill. You’ll need to loosen the screen to get the outside probe.” Jess stuck the camera into the window and moved it around.
Jess had moved the camera around for a couple of minutes while he watched the monitor displaying the image of the camera he was holding. “Well, the monitor is showing nothing but air and water. Guess there is no land at this location. It makes sense since most of our world is water. We should expect the same odds of opening a window into water.”
Alice placed the probe from the inside-outside thermometer through the window. “Yes, the water looks just about right for sea level. Well, there is nobody here to bother. Guess we will have to check from Queensland or Texas to learn more about this world.”
Alice looked at the thermometer readings. “Well, that’s why it feels so cold. The temperature is -2°C over there.” Suddenly, the probe cord dropped to the floor, severed. “What happened?”
Jess pulled the camera out of the window and picked up the thermometer wire. “Cut clean.”
Alice looked closely at the window. “It’s varying in size. You can just barely see it if you look close. It must have cut through the wire when it rested on the edge.”
“Maybe some variation in the levels,” Jess suggested. They looked closely at the control computer screen. “No, they are showing very little variation, and it isn’t like the variation the window sensors are showing.” Jess called up some additional windows and looked at the reports on the sensor and control data. “Could be we have some interference from something else. I should be able to rig up a feedback network to dampen it out. Before we go to the next settings, let us try an experiment. I will hold a piece of metal in the window when we close it. I want to see how it cuts it.”
Alice shook her head. “Could you rig up something to hold the metal piece? We don’t know if a closing window may exert some force on an object in the window when it closes.”
“Good idea!” Jess agreed.
They rigged a setup to hold a piece of scrap metal in the center of the window.
Jess stood back. “OK, shut off the window.”
Alice moved the mouse to a control. With a click, she nulled the signals to the window construct.
“I didn’t see it move. The other end just disappeared as the window was shut down.” Jess removed the shortened piece of metal from the clamps. “No change in temperature except from the cold of the other world.” He ran the edge of the cut across the tabletop. “I am glad I did not try that with my finger. The edge is very sharp. Look at how smooth and shiny the surface of the metal is. I think we have a new cutter to sell.”
“They’ll have to have a location where they’ve access to land on both sides. I don’t think dropping scrap into another world is what we want to do,” commented Alice.
“No. Most times, you want both pieces. Do you think the other world is in an ice age?”
Alice thought about it for a couple of minutes. “It might be, but it could just be winter on that world. There’s no reason for the seasons to match.”
“That means we could just cross to another world to go skiing in the summer or to the beach in the winter. I will clean the stand out of the way and then we will be ready to go to the next world.”