While listening to public radio earlier this week, I was made aware of a book, “Icarus at the Edge of Time,” by Columbia University physicist Brian Greene.

    Greene is an expert in theoretical physics, one of those branches of science that deals with things seemingly provable only by using mathematics that go far, far beyond any required classes I had to take in college.

    But Greene also writes books for the general public where he explains some of these theories, and “Icarus” is one of those. It’s aimed specifically at youngsters, which makes it even easier for yours truly to comprehend.

    In the book, Icarus is a 14-year-old genius, living aboard a starship traveling to another solar system. But unlike the James T. Kirk’s USS Enterprise, Icarus’ ship is not equipped with warp drive, and thus must travel between the stars at a snails’ pace, relatively speaking (pardon the pun, but I think Einstein would forgive me the temptation.)

    Icarus knows he and generations before him were born aboard the ship, and that he and his descendants will die before reaching its destination. He’s also an impulsive lad, and decides to see if his newly-invented micro-warp drive, mounted on a one-man ship, can safely take him to the edge of a black hole – the place where “Here there be dragons” signs start appearing — and back.

    To make a long story short, Icarus ignores his father’s pleas and leaves the starship. He succeeds in his quest, but pays a terrible price (caution: spoilers follow): the impulsive whiz-kid forgot that time slows down when approaching the crushing gravity of a dead star. To Icarus, he has been gone only an hour, but in the outside universe more than 10 millennia have passed. Everyone and everything he knew is irretrievably gone.

    Greene has brought into the 21st century the classic myth of the young man who flew too close to the sun and paid the final price for his pride and arrogance. The book is only 34 pages long, printed on glossy, heavy cardstock and filled with stunning astronomical photographs.

    I’ve always been interested in space and how there are so many mysteries for us to solve. “Icarus” gives youngsters an easy way to understand glimpse at one of the most puzzling of those mysteries.

****

    Naturally, I’ve also found a way use a child’s book to segue into the Nov. 4 elections.

    Like Icarus, it seems as if we’ve seen millennia go by this campaign season, and that time just gets more and more drawn out as we approach Election Day. But fear not, it will be over soon.

    No matter who wins any particular office, we all should be glad we have the opportunity to routinely, if sometimes noisily, change public officials. But to make that change – or to keep the status quo – means putting down the TV remote or unplugging the iPod, and heading to the polls.

    So go do it. Motivate yourself. Get out and vote Tuesday.

****

    Loyal readers no doubt have noted Don Flood’s column is no longer in the Post. Don’s weekly musings aren’t available through King Features Syndicate Inc. anymore, which is a service the Post subscribes to. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.