Down the Rabbit Hole

By Donnell Ann Bell

I’m glad I only blog once a month on The Stiletto Gang. Mainly because when I stumble on a topic I’d like to discuss, that’s how long it takes to condense the mushroom cloud in my brain into a few cohesive paragraphs.

Case in point, I recently read an ad in American Police Beat Magazine for a device called the MX908 mass spectrometer. This handheld gadget is portable, and because of its cost, (close to $60K per unit) is currently being used by elite first responders.

What does it do? The MX908 mass spectrometer is capable of detecting real time chemical identification (such as explosives, HazMat operations and priority drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and more). 908 Devices – YouTube

I can’t tell you how happy I was to learn about this advancing technology. During ridealongs and citizens academies, I’ve learned that while cops live daily with the knowledge they may take a bullet, they and their fellow first responders, face a greater risk known as exposure.

Exposure to explosives, chemicals and toxic drugs. I’m excited about the advancement of this mass spectrometer. I believe it will save innumerable lives.

I didn’t mean my blog to be an ad for the MX908, however. My original intent was to pinpoint how and when the technology may have evolved and how fiction authors (in particularly science fiction authors) may have contributed.

That idea proved fruitless and of little merit.

DeForest Kelly as Dr. McCoy Source: Public Domain

Lois Winston and I are critique partners, and I told her about the device and quipped something like Gene Roddenberry, screenwriter and creator of Star Trek, would be proud. If you recall Roddenberry created Star Trek in 1964. One of his characters, Dr. Leonard McCoy, aka Bones, used a medical scanning device on patients to determine illness or injury.

Still, Gene Roddenberry can’t take credit for the spectrometer. As I dove further down the rabbit hole, I learned the first mass spectrometer was invented in the 19^th century and before that Issac Newton and others were delving into the color spectrum, telescope, microscope and myriad other devices. Did you know Newton is responsible for calculus?

And please don’t get me started on Benjamin Franklin!!!

I did learn quite a bit about science fiction authors while I was researching but I’ll save that for another blog. There are some amazing authors I’d like to include.

Also, during my explorations, I discovered I was attempting to engage in what is known as Synoptic philosophy, which comes from the Greek word συνοπτικός synoptikos (“seeing everything together”). Add synoptic to the word philosophy, it means the love of wisdom emerging from a coherent understanding of everything together.

Obviously, although my curiosity knows no bounds, I have much to learn.

Does your research lead you down the proverbial rabbit hole? Have you heard the term Synoptic philosophy?

About the Author:  Donnell Ann Bell is an award-winning author who began her nonfiction career in newspapers. After she turned to fiction, her romantic suspense novels became Amazon bestsellers, including The Past Came Hunting, Deadly Recall, Betrayed, and Buried Agendas. In 2019, Donnell released her first mainstream suspense, Black Pearl, A Cold Case Suspense, which was a 2020 Colorado Book Award finalist. In 2022, book two of the series was released. Until Dead, A Cold Case Suspense won Best Thriller in 2023 at the Imaginarium Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Currently, she’s working on book three of the series. Readers can follow Donnell on her blog or sign up for her newsletter at www.donnellannbell.net.