The Old Testament                                       345

Exodus IV: Recombination

Now the Universe was a brilliant glowing bath of light. Any light that was created was instantly destroyed, for it was absorbed by protons or electrons. And light re-emitted by these particles had hardly any time to move. If ye had been there it would have been impossible to even see an atom’s length away, for the fog of light did fog the "sight" – it was a bath of light too bright to see; the World was blinded by its own brilliant light.
     Now thy Universe consisted of a plasma – space was filled with charge. And negatively charged electrons and positively charged hydrogen and helium nuclei were everywhere. And although these changes swam in separate seas, together did they form a neutral gas. So protons moved about electrons, and electrons moved about the protons. And now and then did an electron and a proton bind. Thus for a moment did an atom form.⁴⁷ But such an atom did not last, for instantly a ray of light knocked the two constituents apart. The Universe was "blinded" in its light, for electromagnetic waves were constantly absorbed, reflected and emitted by the charges in the plasma gas.
     The Universe was three-hundred-thousand years in age. And the temperature was eight-thousand Kelvins – slightly hotter than the surface of the Sun.⁴⁸ And since the matter-radiation demarcation point, space had grown sixfold.

Chapter II: Atom Formation

And electromagnetic radiation continued to red shift. And when it shifted to the red, it cooled. And as it cooled, it lost its energy and struck electrons with less force. And electrons in the gas lost energy and moved about less vigorously.
     And it came to pass that rays of light had insufficient energy to kick electrons out of nuclei, when electrons bound to nuclei. And so, when electrons tied themselves to nuclei, they stayed – it was the electric force of Nature that made them stay. And thus it came to pass that electrons orbited the nuclei and atoms formed. And when an electron and a proton bound, an atom of hydrogen appeared. And with one plus charge in the nucleus and one minus charge in the electron, such a hydrogen atom had no net charge. And when an electron and a helium nucleus did bind, a helium-plus atom formed. And with two plus charges and one minus charge, such a helium-plus was positively charged. And when an electron and helium-plus atom bound, an atom of helium appeared. And with two plus charges and two minus charges, such heliums had no net charge. And so it came to pass that electrons and nuclei tied themselves together, until all atoms had no net charge. Thus it came to pass that the plasma changed into a neutral gas.

346                        The Bible According to Einstein

And it was declared that positive charges
and negative charges
would no longer swim in separate seas.
Now electrons still repelled electrons.
And protons repelled protons.
But pluses moved about in search of minuses.
And minuses moved about in search of pluses.
And all this happened because the Universe had cooled,
and as a result, a kind of cosmic mating-dance of charge ensued.
And electrons swirled about prospective proton spouses.
Their motions and their movements unrehearsed
took place in the theater of the Universe.
Electrons danced about the protons,
ignoring neutrinos, neutrons and the photons.
In the beginning, electrons were rather energetic.
And the protons tried to trapped them in an orbit.
But the electrons seemed not very sympathetic,
for there was too much commotion in their motion.
But then the temperature did drop a bit.
And the electrons tired and they became less frantic.
They felt the pull of the electric-charge attraction.
The electrons could no longer live in isolation.
There came about the largest ever wedding ceremony.
And particles paired in holy cosmic matrimony.
It was a splendid moment in atomic history.
Each marriage of a pair produced a little scintillation.
And all this was due to the electromagnetic interaction.

     And when electrons were captured by the nuclei in atoms, light was emitted. And since there were so many electrons and so many nuclei, light was produced profusely. There was a tremendous flash throughout the Universe. And the radiation was ultraviolet, blue, yellow, red, and infrared. All this lasted for several thousand years as ten-to-the-eighty⁴⁹ electrons paired with ten-to-the-eighty protons to form ten-to-the-eighty atoms of hydrogen and helium. And this event in cosmic history was provided with a name. And Recombination was the name.⁵⁰

And a few protons and electrons found no lover.
And a few separated charges would remain left over.

____________________

⁴⁹ 10⁸⁰, or one-hundred-million-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion.
⁵⁰ Recombination signifies the coming together of electrons and nuclei to form neutral atoms. Although the two had never been bound before so that "combination" would have been a better name, the word "recombination" was selected just the same.

The Old Testament                                       347

Chapter III: The Last Light

And during Recombination, the Universe scintillated in radiant brilliant light. Now at the end of Recombination, when almost all electrons were bound to nuclei, the production of light gradually stopped. And eventually, the Universe turned dark and black. Henceforth, the Universe would continue to be dark and black. And the first day for the Universe, which had lasted three-hundred-thousand years, was over. And the first night for the Universe began. And this night would last for the next fifteen-billion years or so, for the first day of the Universe was its last day. Forever forth would it be night.
     And the black of sky, which ye see after the Sun sets, is the black of the Universe, as it was three-hundred-thousand years after the Big Bang, as it has been for the last fifteen-billion years, as it is unto this day.

On the last day of Recombination,
the last light was made, and there was darkness.
Let there be light and darkness.

And so it had come to pass that the Universe had undergone a phase transition, from a plasma to a gas. And the formation of atoms had rendered matter neutral. And so electromagnetic radiation interacted weakly with the atoms.⁵¹ And these interactions were so weak that electromagnetic waves were liberated. Thus photons travelled undisturbed – their fate became the same fate of the Deuteronomy neutrinos.⁵² And cosmic photons, like cosmic neutrinos, became invisible and formed a cosmic relic, travelling through the Universe without disturbance for the rest of time.
     Thy Universe was one one-thousandth of the size it is today.

And husky blacksmiths pounded at the anvil
and fanned the hearth
and kept the Universe expanding at a steady pace.