Our Self-Assembling Universe

We all know about atoms. For example, we all know that hydrogen, oxygen, silver, and gold are atoms. We also know that soil, air, water, plants, animals, and everything else on planet earth are made of atoms. But how many of us truly appreciate the fact that these things and all other such things in our universe are not only made of atoms but are all made by them! Atomic nuclei, themselves self-assembled from nothing more than protons, neutrons, and electrons, have made and continue to make everything! And they've done it and continue to do it on their own. It is the purpose of this book to help the author, and others so interested, come to grips with this mind boggling state of affairs, and to help develop an intimate knowledge and appreciation for the self-assembly of our universe and of its building blocks, the atoms. To do this the author has, himself, begun self-assembling all of the atomic nuclei listed in the periodic chart of the elements using colorful orange and white ping pong balls, his chosen representatives for the protons and neutrons. Through this device the intimate stories uniquely connected to each of the atoms, their mode of self-assembly, and their role in the creation of the universe unfold. Inside the book, most of us know, and do so with a high degree of confidence, that we, our planet, our solar system, our galaxy, and all other seemingly solid objects in our universe, both unimaginably large and invisibly small, are made of atoms. And yet, even though I have said it many times and thought it many more times, I hadn't truly assimilated the very obvious fact that our universe isn't just made of atoms, it has been, and continues to be, self-assembled by them. Atoms have been putting the universe together, and they, and the very forces that made them, have been doing it all, on their own, subatomic particle by subatomic particle, and atom by atom, from day one!