AtDTDA (37) p. 1060Tree of Diana

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

"I remember that studio in Chicago. . . ."

We first encounter Merle on page 13 but as an anonymous near-victim 
of a literal sandbagging. We find out his name on page 26—he turns out
to be the Chum's first assignment. But we first encounter Merle Rideout
as an anonymous photographer. 

           . . . .On the phone with Marge’s publisher, he says 
           “Here’s your quote. Thomas Pynchon loved this book. 
           Almost as much as he loves cameras. . . .” 

Photography becomes nearly an idée fixe in Against the Day. Much of 
Against the Day [a lot of Pynchon's writing in general] is concerned
with the back-stories of science and technology. Merle Rideout's "take"
on photography has much to say concerning Alchemy, Heremetics
and the pervasive notion that the Earth is alive. The "life" and 
consciousness on earthly things—crystals, rocks, mountains, mine 
shafts—gets free play in AtD.

>From the Wikipedia: 

           Diana's Tree (Latin: Arbor Diana or Dianae), also known as 
           the Philosopher's Tree (Arbor Philosophorum), is a dendritic 
           amalgam of crystallized silver, obtained from mercury in a 
           solution of silver nitrate; so-called by the alchemists, among 
           whom "Diana" stood for silver. The arborescence of this 
           amalgam, which even included fruit-like forms on its branches, 
           led pre-modern chemical philosophers to theorize the existence 
           of life in the kingdom of minerals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana's_Tree

As theoreticians of physics expand possible definitions of 'reality'
during the era of expanding technology set down in AtD, we are drawn
back into the concept of all things—rocks and stars included—being
alive and conscious.

Lew catches on to Merle's mindset: 

           "What you were saying about sending these pictures off onto 
           different tracks . . . other possibilities . . ."

           "That's the constant-term recalibration, or C.T.R. . . "

>From the Pynchonwiki:

           The reconstruction of the "primitive" (page 1049) entails 
           fixing a value for the constant term. The operator can 
           choose the "official" value and get Lew's "supposed-to-be" 
           life as output, or can choose a different value and track 
           some unofficial life. The machine can't tell the difference.

http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_1040-1062#Page_1050

If 'everything connects', it is because it joined at the root, including 
those forks we did and didn't take.