James Daley - The Science of Minecraft: The Real Science Behind the Crafting, Mining, Biomes, and More!

PROLOGUE

A few minutes before my life was forever changed, I was just an ordinary young scientist, dutifully working at the Mojang Institute of Novel Experimentation as a Certified Research Associate (First Tier), cleaning up my lab after a long day of experimentation. Like most days, I had remained at work far past when all my colleagues had gone home for the evening, as I greatly enjoyed the quiet solitude of the empty campus after dark. The last thing I needed to do before I could go home was put my last three test tubes into the cold storage container, but I had run out of test tube stoppers and had to get some more from the storage closet in the hallway.

When I got there, I found only an empty box, meaning I would have to venture all the way down to the warehouse in the basement to find another. I sighed, judgmentally shaking my head at the carelessness of my colleagues, and began to make my way down the winding hallways and many staircases that led to the basement.

Since I had just begun working at the Institute a few weeks prior, Id only been down to the warehouse once before, and that was with my boss leading the way. Still, it never occurred to me that I would get lost on my way down to grab a new box of test tube stoppersbut thats exactly what happened.

To be honest, Im not sure if I was ever going in the right direction, because before I even made it to the basement stairwell, I found myself all turned around and in a part of the building I had never been to before. I paused for a second to look around and get my bearings, wishing I had done this before everyone went home for the night, when a pair of double doors at the end of the corridor burst open, and a frazzled-looking woman in a white lab coat came running out, looking quite out of breath and seriously freaked out.

Her eyes went wide when she saw me. You! she yelled. Stop right there!

My first thought was that I had ventured into one of the restricted areas of the campus and that I was about to get a serious scolding. Im sorry, I said. Im just trying to find my way to the warehouse for a box of

But before I could finish my sentence, the crazed woman had cleared the distance between us and cut me off. Whats your job here? she asked, her voice shaking.

Uh... Certified Research Associate.

What Tier?

First, I said, hoping this might get me out of trouble.

Itll have to do, she said, grabbing my hand. Come with me.

Before I knew it, she was leading me back through the doors she had just burst open and down a series of hallways until we came to a very heavy-looking metal door with a sign on it that read CLASSIFIED CLEARANCE ONLY.

The woman retrieved an access card from her pocket and I noticed that it identified her as Dr. River Song, PhD Chief Scientist, Department of Obscure Experiments. She swiped her access card on the electronic lock and the door swung open, revealing a tableau that quite literally took my breath away.

It was a laboratory, not unlike my own, but right in the center of it was the strangest thing I had ever seen. It was a huge gray frame as tall as the ceiling and seemingly made of large metallic blocks that glistened as if they were coated with a thin sheen of crystal. Inside the frame was a glowing green substance that I could not identify, but almost seemed to be made from some kind of oily liquid.

I was about to ask what this strange object was when I saw the man lying on the floor just in front of the frame, his eyes barely open, breathing so shallowly I was certain that he did not have very many breaths left in him.

I instantly recognized the man, though I could not imagine what he was doing there. It was none other than the legendary physicist Charles Benzak, PhDone of the greatest scientists to have ever worked at the Mojang Institute of Novel Experimentation.

Is that Dr. Benzak? I whispered to the frazzled Dr. Song. I thought he retired years ago.

Yes, it is, she replied. Though he never retired. She pointed at the strange object in the center of the room. Hes been on the other side of that.

Now I was really intrigued. But what is that? I asked.

Dr. Song shrugged. I dont know exactly. Some kind of doorway. To someplace... different.

Different how?

She looked me square in the eyes. Thats what I need you to find out.

A chill ran up my spine. You want me to go through that thing?

Yes, she replied, the urgency in her voice growing. It will only stay open for another minute, and I have to see to Dr. Benzak.

And what do you want me to do, exactly?

Research, she replied. Experiment. Document everything you find thats different from Earth.

My eyes went wide as silver dollars. What do you mean by different from Earth?

Theres no time to explain, she said, now pushing me toward the strange object. Your contract requires you to accept any assignment we give you, and this is your new assignment.

Dr. Song was right, of course. I had agreed to those terms when I took the job. What could I do? I began to walk toward the strange object, growing more and more nervous with every step. Right before I was about to step through, Dr. Benzak opened his eyes and looked right at me, a hint of sadness on his face.

You got any advice for me? I asked him.

He struggled to take in enough breath to form words. Finally, his lips parted. Mine, he said, his voice barely a whisper. Craft.

Then the legendary Dr. Charles Benzak closed his eyes again, and the woman who had brought me to that strange laboratory shoved me through the portal.

CHAPTER 1

LEARNING TO CRAFT

I opened my eyes to find myself in a forest, though it wasnt like any forest I had ever seen before. At first, I was a bit too disoriented to notice the difference, glaring as it was. There were great, towering trees rising out of a grass-covered hillside. There were rocks and shrubs and a blue sky above, and a brook babbling somewhere off in the distance. Something was just... different.

Maybe its the grass, I thought. Every inch of this forest seemed to be covered with tightly clipped grass as far as the eye could see. I wondered who could possibly maintain such an enormous lawn, and why they would bother to do so.

But no, I thought. That wasnt the strange part.

Was it the trees? They were all incredibly straight, super tall, and not one of them had a single branch extending from a solitary trunk.

No, that wasnt it either.

I took off my glasses, rubbed my eyes, and put them back on... and then I saw it.

Squares. Everywhere I looked, everything was squarethe trees, the shrubs, the rocks, even the clouds. All squares. Or rather, I realized as I approached a small boulder, not squares exactlycubes. Everything everywhere was made of identically sized cubes.

Well, almost everything. There was an animal that appeared to be a sheep standing on the hillside, staring at me warily, who seemed to be made of slightly smaller cubes than the rest of the environment. And much of the smaller vegetation was actually comprised of intricate matrices of imperceptibly thin squares.

Of course, my first thought was that I must be hallucinating or dreaming or something (and I admit that I held this as a possibility for quite some time), but before I got a chance to think much about this, the sun began to set, and I was enveloped in darkness.

Thats when I noticed the moonthe perfectly square moonmoving at breakneck speed across the star-studded sky.